Here we are, literally a few lines further into the text from the point in time when the king was enthralled by God, and now he is creating an image of himself that is nearly 60 feet tall, and when he signals ‘his people’, the text literally says that “as soon as they were hearing they were falling down [and worship him]”...whatever humility the king had in chapter 2 is now gone!

Unfortunately, I can’t say that I am entirely different.  In my spiritual life, I tend to give God the blame and give myself the credit more than I would really care to admit.

Another thing- notice how Daniel is absent from this incident about the fiery furnace?  I run the risk of inserting something into the story that isn’t really there, but I would venture to say that Daniel has probably discipled these gentlemen well.  In the first 2 chapters, they were coming alongside Daniel as he was leading the way, leaning into God, trusting God, and displaying God’s greatness.  Now we see these guys take their own faith to the next level, and without Daniel.  I think that is a cool and subtle point in this book.

For me though, my big takeaway from these stories with King Nebuchadnezzar is really the up and down nature of his faith.  He could be a considered a ‘fair weather believer’...in that, his faith only exists when miraculous signs or direct intervention from God is right there in front of him.  He is unable to extend that faith deeper into his life.   He is unable to translate that experience with God into a relationship with God.  He is unable to let the truths of God and the desires of God play out in his own life.  And, unfortunately, I think there are many of us that suffer from this same issue.

How do we do that then?  How do we ‘step into’ the life in which God has called us, and experience Him on a more systematic, rhythmic basis?

Though this isn’t in Daniel, it is scattered all over the New Testament writings...it is in ‘doing’ the right thing.  This is an area that I am passionate about, as a type A...I like action.  It is just a reality that in doing what God has called us to do, we start feeling things God would have us to feel, and we start seeing things God has in store for us, and we start to experience a relationship with God.  The caveat to this is that our hearts must be settled on the fact that our doing is about experiencing God, NOT about impressing others.  When we do the right things for the wrong reasons, that relationship with God won’t flourish in the same way.

So, today, building on what I have been learning the last few days in reading Daniel, I will consider this king that has this up and down relationship with God here in Daniel, and I will remind myself that in doing the right things, the right little things, and for the right reasons, creates a sort of spiritual momentum in my life.  And this momentum will allow me to be more faith-filled, and to experience God more deeply and more consistently in my daily life.