Today’s scripture: Daniel 2:1-11 (NRSV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me in this passage? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Julie Benson):
I once had a dream in which a voice relayed a specific phone number to me saying, Someone at this number is ill. I awoke with the number embedded in my mind and immediately jotted it down on a piece of scrap paper that I managed to scrounge up inside my nightstand.
My spirit was troubled. I did a reverse phone lookup to obtain the name of the person. Richard was his first name. So I searched a little deeper to see if I could find any information about Richard on the internet. A few details emerged, but I wondered how much of it was truly about the subject from my dream.
What was I supposed to do with this information? Call the number?! And what would I say to the person on the other end? Excuse me sir, I had this crazy dream about your phone number. I just wanted to call and tell you, in case you didn’t already know, that someone at your household is ill. Who would sound like the crazy then?! I was fixated on this dream for days. Though very tempted and still very troubled, I ultimately did not feel forward enough to make that call.
I can only begin to imagine the desperation that King Nebuchadnezzar felt as he lost sleep contemplating his dreams. And his brutal public decree was born out of that desperation.
When you are frantically searching for a resolution to life’s little dilemmas, how do you respond? Do you, like King Nebuchadnezzar, act out in desperation: insistent, demanding, callous, and indignant? Or do you carefully weigh your options and look at the situation from a variety of perspectives?
Consider one area in your life right now that has you losing sleep. Take the next three minutes to see it anew by following these steps:
- Take 15 seconds to breathe slowly, clearing your mind and focusing on your chest rising and falling…
- In 60 seconds or less, go to God in prayer completing these statements:
- God, I have been preoccupied with ________________.
- This is making me feel __________________________.
- I have tried/considered __________________________. (In this step be sure to keep it me-focused, leaving out accusatory statements like: “I tried x, but she did y.”)
- Help me, God, to see this situation in a new light.
- Take 15 seconds again to breathe slowly, clearing your mind and focusing on your chest rising and falling…
- Now take the next 60 seconds or more to be still, quiet, and to calmly listen.
- In your final 30 seconds, go to God again in closing:
- God, I think I hear you telling me to ______________. OR… God, it was very quiet and I don’t think it’s time for me to move today.
- Let’s meet again tomorrow, Lord, and continue our conversation!