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Tree Dreams and Ox Days: Nebuchadnezzar Gets Grass-Fed

• Jason Cline

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What happens when an arrogant king confronts the sovereignty of God? Daniel chapter 4 unfolds the remarkable transformation of Nebuchadnezzar, from a ruler consumed by his own greatness to a man humbled by divine intervention.

At the heart of this powerful narrative stands a stark contrast between two men: Nebuchadnezzar, whose narcissistic leadership leads to his downfall, and Daniel, whose humility and compassion shine even toward his oppressor. When the king receives a troubling dream about a mighty tree cut down to a stump, only Daniel has the courage to deliver its true meaning – a prophecy of the king's imminent humiliation. Yet rather than rejoicing in his enemy's coming downfall, Daniel grieves and urges repentance.

This unexpected response challenges us to examine our own hearts. Do we secretly wish for the suffering of those who harm us? Or can we, like Daniel, desire their redemption? The sermon explores how Daniel models Christ-like compassion long before Jesus walked the earth, showing genuine concern for someone who had stripped him of homeland, family, and identity.

Nebuchadnezzar's story reminds us that sometimes our suffering is self-inflicted – the natural consequence of pride and poor choices. Yet even in his darkest moment, living like a wild animal with long hair and claw-like nails, God preserves the possibility of restoration. When the king finally acknowledges God's sovereignty, he discovers that losing everything led him to find the one thing that truly matters.

Whether you're currently experiencing a season of blessing or walking through your own wilderness, this message offers a powerful reminder: God remains sovereign in every circumstance. Our greatest spiritual growth often happens not on the mountaintops but in the valleys, where we learn that even when everything else is stripped away, God remains faithful.

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Again, it's no small measure and I realize that even just breakfast probably doesn't really capture what people do. I come from a family of first responders and it wasn't until I recently kind of got back into it that I realized what a sacrifice it can be. Okay, so Daniel, chapter 4. We've been going through the book of Daniel and Daniel is prophetic. So as we get later into Daniel, there's actually some correlation between Daniel and Revelation. That comes and listen. That's a bigger conversation than a Sunday morning, let me tell you, anytime you start thinking and processing future prophecies, there's a lot to unpack. But Daniel is setting up a contrast and, by the way, for those of you who sit on this side, I'm going to try really hard to turn this way, because I realize that I'm right-handed and I've been watching myself. I watch my sermons when I go, go back, because I want to make sure I don't sound dumb when I say stuff, and I realized that I look this way a lot. So you guys are great, but I don't care about you today, I'm a focus over here, over here. So Daniel is a contrast between good and evil. Right, we see Daniel, who is a prophet. He's someone who is seeking after God. He's following after God and he exemplifies humility, exemplifies purpose. And don't misunderstand Daniel is a leader in the same way Nebuchadnezzar is. They both are leading in their rightful positions, and I think we have to clarify that because a lot of times we think that leadership roles are only established by those who have the title. That's not how that works. Positions, and I think we have to clarify that because a lot of times we think that leadership roles are only established by those who have the title. That's not how that works. If you've ever worked in any job, you understand that there are people who are in charge and then there are people who are really in charge. Right, you might have the name of manager, but Beth in groceries tells everyone when the schedule works right. We all know how that works right. And so Daniel is leading in his own right. So Nebuchadnezzar is leading with the title of king.

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Now, the contrast here is Nebuchadnezzar is about as narcissistic as they come. He's it, he's the guy. I mean literally. God gives him a dream of a statue that's made out of gold, and then you know Daniel, chapter two and Daniel chapter three. Nebuchadnezzar decides to build a giant statue of gold of himself. So he takes the dream and it's interpreted, and yet he decides to make it all about him.

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Nebuchadnezzar is what happens when leadership's in power that's not following God. It's very self-centered, it's very egotistical, it's all about him. And then you have Daniel, who's quite the opposite. He's seeking after God, he exemplifies humility. And so we get to Daniel, chapter 4. And Daniel, chapter 4, is going to unfold a narrative and it's going to give us a dream that Nebuchadnezzar has. That is rightfully disturbing. That Nebuchadnezzar has, that is rightfully disturbing. The dream is vivid, it's powerful, it's significant and it's going to alter the course of Nebuchadnezzar's life. Even though he hasn't quite understood it yet, john Wolford notes in light of other passages in the Bible speaking prophetically of Babylon and its ultimate overthrow, of which Isaiah 13 and 14 may be taken as an example, it becomes clear that the contest between God and Nebuchadnezzar is a broad illustration of God's dealing with the entire human race, especially the Gentile world in its creaturely pride and failure to recognize the sovereignty of God.

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In other words, nebuchadnezzar's story is a microcosm of a much larger pattern. God raises up nations, but he also brings them low when they exalt themselves above him, when they exalt themselves above him. So Nebuchadnezzar is about to find out what happens when you don't give everything to God. So, starting in verse 1, daniel, chapter 4, king Nebuchadnezzar, to all people's, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. Again, nebuchadnezzar has made it all about himself. I want to tell you about all the good stuff God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion endures from generation to generation. I think this falls under the category of gaslighting a little bit. He's given God this praise and this glory, but really internally he's not really concerned about his worship of God. It's all for the people.

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Continuing in verse 4, it says I, nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. Again, it's all about me. I saw a dream that made me afraid as I lay in bed. The fancies and the visions in my head alarmed me. So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

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Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the astrologers came in and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation. At last, daniel came in before me. I don't know why he just doesn't start with Daniel Seriously, why does he bring everybody else in? Daniel's the only one, so it says. But at last Daniel came to me before he who was named Belshazzar after the name of my God. So Daniel's name was changed to Belshazzar in order to honor the God that Nebuchadnezzar worshiped. It said in whom the spirit of the holy gods. And I told him the dream, saying O Belshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you.

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Tell me the visions of my dream that I saw in their interpretation. The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong and its top reached the heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beast of the field found shade under it and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches and all flesh was fed from it.

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I saw in the visions of my head A holy one came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beast and the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from man's and let a beast's mind be given him and let seven periods of time pass over him.

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The sentence is, by the decree of the watchers, the decision of the word of the holy ones, to the end, that the living may know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will, and over it the lowest of men. This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, saw, and you, o Belshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men in my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you. So Nebuchadnezzar starts with this dream of this beautiful tree, and it's providing shade and protection and food for everything around it. And if you read through the dream, eventually the tree goes from a tree to a hymn. It shifts about halfway down, and so all of a sudden, this dream goes from this tree that's prosperous and over-glorifying everything. And all of a sudden, a watcher shows up and the tree is to be cut down, destroyed. Every good thing it was doing will be lost, the only thing left will be the roots. And so Nebuchadnezzar calls in his dreamers, his magicians, his enchanters, and says tell me what this dream means Before we get to Daniel's interpretation. By the way, it's not good, not for Nebuchadnezzar. I can imagine that the enchanters and his magicians probably knew what the dream meant, but none of them wanted to tell him. Because, see, when you pay attention to how kingdoms work, there were people who were kings and there were people who followed the king, and usually the people who followed the king were loyal subjects and they benefited from being loyal subjects. Right, there was a plus side to being in the good feeling of the king. He didn't kill you. So he gives his dream and I can imagine among them they've decided not to tell him what it means because it's not going to be good. And then you have Daniel.

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Daniel who comes in and he finds Nebuchadnezzar recounting a dream, and this dream starts out by affirming his greatness. Verses 1-12 paint a picture of a prosperous king, a kingdom that's thriving. And then you get to verses 13 through 18, and all of a sudden there's judgment on this tree. It's torn down, and God reveals in verses 13 through 18 that he's sovereign, that he's about to show even the king who's in charge, that he's not really in charge, because God ultimately chooses who reigns and who doesn't. So, no matter how much power, no matter how impressive your kingdom might be, if God decides to remove you from said kingdom, he will do so.

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That's the beauty of it. That's why, when we's why when I know we talk every four years, we go into politics and it's a big thing and listen. I think that's important. As a country, we get to vote, but we get so stressed about who's in charge and really, daniel 4 reminds us that only God's in charge. It doesn't matter who's sitting on the throne. What matters is are we following the one? 4 reminds us that only God's in charge. It doesn't matter who's sitting on the throne. What matters is, are we following the one who's eternal?

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And so Daniel comes in and he hears this dream, and Daniel's reaction is one that I find interesting. So you have to remember, daniel's been taken into captivity. His name is Belshazzar. The guy who serves the only true God is named after a fake God, right? So they've changed his name, they've taken his family, they've stripped his identity. Even though he has power, his power within the kingdom is still limited because it's still not home. Kingdom is still limited because it's still not home.

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If there is ever a person in the world who, I say, is justified in vengeance, daniel is the him. Daniel has every right to be upset, he has every right to hate Nebuchadnezzar. He has every right to will, to wish nothing but evil upon him. I mean, the king has done nothing but caused his life turmoil, but Daniel chooses to react differently, and I think that that's important to note, because how we handle people, how we handle people in the world we don't like sometimes. I think is a reflection of who we follow as a church. As Christians, you and I are called to humility above all else, and that's not always easy. But here we see Daniel model that.

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So, starting in verse 19, it says Then Daniel, whose name was Belshazzar, was dismayed for a while and his thoughts alarmed him. It says For your enemies. So Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar I don't want to have to tell you this, but I wish this dream wasn't for you. And he has compassion. He doesn't want to see this happen. But why not? I mean everything that Nebuchadnezzar's done. Why is Daniel choosing to respond this way? And I think it's because Daniel understood that God is a compassionate God. He didn't want to see anything befall his enemy, but he tells him the dream anyways, in verse 20.

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It says the tree you saw which grew and became strong so that its top reached the heaven and was visible to the end of the whole earth, the leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade and whose branches the birds of the heavens lived. It is you. Okay, you have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to the heaven and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze and the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of the heaven and let his portion be with the beast of the field till seven periods of time pass over him. This is the interpretation, o king. It is the decree of the Most High which has come upon my Lord the King, that you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. You shall be made deep grass like an ox and you shall be wet with the dew of the heaven and seven periods of time shall pass over you. So you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of those roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, o king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. So Daniel interprets this dream for Nebuchadnezzar, and there's a few things that need to be noted.

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The book of Daniel not only reveals profound truths about who God is, his sovereignty, his wisdom and justice, but it also serves as a guide for how believers can live faithfully in any nation or cultural setting. In Daniel 4, one of the most striking lessons we learn about Daniel himself is that he embodies both moral courage and genuine compassion. He does not shy away from calling out sin and injustice, even when addressing the most powerful man in the world. Yet his heart remains tender towards Nebuchadnezzar, the very one responsible for so much oppression. Charles Feinberg captures this beautifully, and he says this verse reveals the heart of Daniel, as well as in the entire book of Daniel. He knew the meaning of this dream and how well Nebuchadnezzar deserved what was come upon him.

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Nevertheless, daniel's heart was concerned for the king and grieved over the fact that he had to tell him. This was a distinctive feature of the true prophets of God. Though they often had to predict judgments, they were nevertheless grieved when any of God's creatures were chastised. By the way, that does prove true, unless you look at Jonah Jonah's kind of the exception to the rule, because Jonah was the one God said go to Nineveh, and Jonah's like I'm not doing that. But the prophets were known for speaking truth. So one, daniel, stands on truth. He calls Nebuchadnezzar to account for what he's done. He says stop living this way, stop oppressing people, stop ruling like you are, stop oppressing people, stop ruling like you are. It's not working. He stands on truth, but he also shows compassion. He says Nebuchadnezzar, turn from your ways so that maybe this dream will be spared of you and your prosperity will continue Again.

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The contrast in Daniel is so incredible. You have Nebuchadnezzar who's full of himself. He does whatever he can to stay in power. He bullies people. And then you have Daniel, a man after God, who's showing nothing but humility, interpreting these dreams, praying for the king, wishing that the dream that he just interpreted wasn't for him. I mean, daniel loves his enemies.

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I have a hard time processing that sometimes. I have a hard time processing that sometimes Because I immediately think people who have slighted me in my life. I think about people that have harmed me or harmed my family, and the very human part of me wants them to get what's coming to them. We want them to just suffer a little bit because they made us suffer. And here you have Daniel, in exile, abused by a king, lost his name, lost his identity, robbed of his home. You have Daniel who models Jesus.

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Even before Jesus, he looks at Nebuchadnezzar and says I want you to stop living the way that you're living, because I want God to show you favor and not judgment. That should be the heart of the church. That's where humility comes into play. That every single person who crosses our door frame, every person we meet, we should want nothing more for them than to know God. We want God to see them change their life. We want God to help them overcome the things that they're struggling with. We should be people of compassion, but also people who stand on truth. The Word of God is truth. We were called to call sin what it is. Daniel doesn't shy away from that. He doesn't say oh, king, you know you can continue to live the way that you live and maybe God will grant you. He says no, stop it, stop living this way, and maybe God will show you compassion Because, king, that's what I want for you. It says how do we reconcile love for our enemies, especially when those enemies are the very ones who have harmed us.

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For Daniel, the challenge is deeply personal. He's living in exile under the rule of the king who conquered his people, destroyed his homeland and subjected him to a foreign culture. And yet, when Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream, daniel is not gleeful or vengeful. Instead, he is deeply grieved by what he knows is coming. You might expect Daniel to rejoice in the king's downfall. Perhaps that's why none of the other wise men could interpret the dream. Maybe they wanted it to happen. It brings to mind Jonah, who resisted going to Nineveh because he wanted to see the people suffer. Why offer the opportunity to repent when judgment feels deserved? But Daniel is different. He responds not with bitterness but with compassion. He even says he wishes the dream implied in Nebuchadnezzar's enemies.

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Instead, in this moment, daniel sees beyond politics, power and personal pain, and he sees a person created by God, a soul still worthy of redemption. That's the heart of it that all people matter to God, not just the ones we'd like or agree with. Daniel embodies this truth. He stands firm in calling out the king's oppression and injustice, but he does so with humility and grace. He recognizes that he too is in need of God's mercy. His hope isn't in the downfall of his enemy. It's in the repentance of his enemy he prays the king might turn from pride and become an ally rather than remain an adversary. That's what it means to embrace humility. That's what it looks like to live like a faithful witness in a broken world. Daniel models for you and I what it looks like to look at a world that's fallen apart and broken and try to see them how God does. That's the focus. Everyone was created by God. Everyone is worthy of redemption. Everyone, not just the people we like, not just the people we prefer, but everyone, even Nebuchadnezzar, is worth redemption.

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I talked about this last year and I still have a hard time reconciling with it because my brain really just my humanity. I found out last year when I was studying on kind of a similar topic, if you know the name, jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer was someone who did a lot of incredibly bad things. He was not a good person, made a lot of mistakes, he hurt a lot of people. I found out and I was doing a little bit of research on him because I was curious and I found out that in prison, before he died, that he gave his life to Christ and he was baptized in prison and I'm telling you right now when I read that, it did not sit right with me, because I have a really hard time processing that, because I know what he's done right and I know what he did and how he hurt people.

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But where I have to reconcile, that is I know who God is and I know that God offers grace to anyone who calls on his name, and I know that mercy is an abundance for those who need it. Because people like Nebuchadnezzar, who slaughtered innocents, was someone who a soul that was worth redemption. And so I wrestle with that, because if God's grace is enough for someone like Jeffrey Dahmer, then how I treat people matters, because if grace is meant for everyone who seeks it, then that means that every person who is part of my life and outside of my life, and every person God created is made for redemption, that they can be redeemed. Listen, I love that song. I was made for more. I wasn't meant to be tending a grave. I know my life. Listen, I know where I've come from. I can tell you that I've probably never done anything to the level of Jeffrey Dahmer, but I've done some things in my past I'm not proud of. I've sinned and I've made mistakes and I've hurt people, and God has shown mercy and grace to me. And so Daniel, looking at Nebuchadnezzar, wishes and prays and hopes that he can just come around and maybe this judgment won't befall him. But Nebuchadnezzar, in true fashion, lives up to his ego.

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Daniel 4, starting in verse 28, said All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar At the end of 12 months. He was walking on the roof, it said. While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven. O, king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you until you know the most high rules, the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will. Immediately, the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven. So his hair grew as long as eagles feathers and his nails were like birds claws.

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Nebuchadnezzar brought about his own downfall. God warned him, god tried to help him understand Daniel tried to encourage him to just turn from his ways. I had someone ask me last week when we got done and part of where we're going in this whole focus is the fact that God's sovereign. So God, he sees all, he's over all, he's in charge of all. However, there's still an aspect of life. You know we have free will to make decisions, and someone asked me, and they're like well, how do you reconcile God being sovereign when people say you reap what you sow? By the way, galatians 6-7 says it like this do not be deceived, god is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that he also will reap. And so when you talk about how do we reconcile that? It's because sometimes our downfall is our fault. It is Daniel and his friends. What was happening to them in their life was not their fault. They didn't do anything to make it happen. The people of Israel kind of screwed up along the way, but them being overtaken by a king was not their doing. They didn't wake up one day and say, hey, I want to go in exile. They had no control over that. Nebuchadnezzar had control over how he approached his kingdom. So the reason, one of the reasons he ends up in this mess is because, instead of taking the warning from God that's been given him, he finds himself 12 months later talking about how great he is and the kingdom is so great because of him. He can't get past himself and so he brings upon his own downfall.

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Sometimes you and I are in the mess that we're in because we did it. I think about this. Like you know, I've been working on like losing weight. That's my goal for the next year is to try to lose. I got about another 80 pounds. I didn't listen. I didn't get this way because God made me overweight. I'm just throwing that out there. It doesn't work that way. I wish it did. Now I realize there's some factors in play and there's some things that happen and people can't always control things. But I can tell you I got this way because when I wrestled and played football in high school, the same way I ate, then I kept eating. When I stopped doing all that stuff and up until about a year ago, when I would sit down, I would overeat too much food, and so this is how I got to where I am. This is a consequence of that right, so I have to accept responsibility for that and trust and believe that God's going to help me get to where I need to be.

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But again, some of the sins, some of the suffering in our life is our own fault. Yet it doesn't change the fact that God is still in charge. God is still in the midst of all of it. God being sovereign doesn't mean he gets to pick and choose. When he's with us, it means that he's always with us. When he's with us, it means that he's always with us. And so here we find Nebuchadnezzar facing the consequences of his own sin. He's been cast into the wilderness, eating like an ox. The dude's hair grows super long and his nails get really sharp. He's lost his mind. But even in his suffering there's still hope.

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So Daniel, chapter 4, starting in verse 34, said At the end of the days, I, nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed the most high and I praised and honored him, who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will. Among, the most of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will, among the most of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him what have you done? At the same time, my reason returned to me and, for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my Lord sought me and I was established in my kingdom and still more greatness was added to me.

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Talk about a man who went through a life change. Talk about a man who went through a life change. Nebuchadnezzar had lived so much of his life for himself, but it wasn't until the suffering that he really realized who God was. He found God in the middle of an incredibly traumatic moment. He lost everything home, loved ones, he lost his mind, and yet in the middle of it he found God.

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I told you that the contrast between Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar is huge. Daniel loses everything, but he still has God. Loses his home, loses his name, loses his family, loses everything, but he still holds on to God. Nebuchadnezzar has everything, everything you could ever want as a king, but he loses it all. He loses it all and when he loses it all, he finally finds the one thing that's eternal. He finally finds the God of Daniel. Suffering is not the easiest thing for you and I, but sometimes God has to humble us. God had to bring Nebuchadnezzar low in order to raise him up. He had to take everything away from him to remind him of who he was. Because at the end of the day, daniel shows us that God is sovereign. Everything that happens he's in charge. You and I are just here, we're part of it, we're participating, but ultimately this is his world, it says.

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Most of us go out of our way to avoid pain. A renowned surgeon, dr Paul Brand, learned that pain isn't the enemy we think it is. It's one of the body's most valuable tools. So after moving to India, he observed something striking. In his work with leprosy patients, he said, lack an internal system to warn them of danger and they often wear their fingers, hands and feet down to stumps. So just as physical pain alerts us to what's wrong in our bodies, emotional and spiritual pain can alert us to what's broken in our lives. In that way, pain becomes a path toward healing, not just suffering.

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Nebuchadnezzar's story in Daniel 4 echoes this truth. The consequences of his pride were severe. He was driven away from people, stripped of his sanity and lost all of the power, comfort he had once boasted. It was precisely through that suffering that his eyes were finally opened. His pride led to his fall, but the pain of that fall led him to truth he ultimately came to acknowledge. In verse 32, it says the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. It said in many ways, nebuchadnezzar's journey mirrors countless conversion stories, countless people that have had their lives changed. They've lost everything just to gain it all back. Have their lives changed? They've lost everything just to gain it all back. That's one thing we should take away from Daniel is that God's in charge. Whether I'm standing on the mountaintop or I'm walking through the darkest of valley, my God is still God. Daniel understood that. Daniel understood, and he understood it so well that he didn't want Nebuchadnezzar to experience suffering.

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I think, if we're honest, none of us want to go through suffering. There's things that I've gone through in my life that I would never wish upon my worst enemy, but sometimes in suffering we find God the most. Nope, I lied. Every time in suffering we find God the most. I think that's true. I think we find God in the depth more than we do on the mountaintops, because God is forever concerned with our lives and who we are and how much he loves us. He's sovereign, he sees all, he knows all. Jesus said it in John 16, 33, I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace In this world. You will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. That is a verse that we can stand on, because no matter what we go through, no matter what happens, no matter who's in charge, no matter what we're afraid of, we understand that God is in control always.

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I don't know what God has planned for our future. I don't know what God has planned for our future. I don't. I used to think I wanted to when I was younger. I always wanted God to like tell me where I was going, and I'm glad he didn't. There's a lot of stuff I probably wouldn't learn along the way.

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I think I've told this before. But if it was up to me and like God, like I do think there's a couple of relationships that I wish God like this isn't going to work out, because I'm like, okay, I'm done Like trying so hard. But I'm just saying there are some times that I wish God would have given me something. But I think the beauty of this is, even though God doesn't always tell us what's coming, we know that it's for our good. We know that it's for the benefit of those around us. We know that this church is meant to be a light, a beacon in this community, that we're supposed to raise up the next generation to follow him. We know that we're supposed to bring people to the knowledge of who Jesus is, because who knows what he's going to do with their life? We don't. We don't get to make that choice.

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Daniel understood this. Nebuchadnezzar was not the greatest person in the world, but he was a soul worth redemption and he found it. He found it in suffering. But again, the beauty of what we find in Daniel is that, even if we don't know, it doesn't change a thing about who God is. He's still in charge, he's still in control. That as we navigate the challenges of this life, that we do so with the same truth and compassion God has shown us Truth that stands firm, grace that reaches deep and faith that holds on, even in the valley. Let's pray.