Hello everyone!
Here we are at the start of another week – and the hours of daylight will start to become noticeably longer. Good! I’m looking forward to spring, I can tell you – and it is only 40 days away. With each season that passes, particularly in a city like Melbourne where the seasons are quite marked, there is the sense of something new. In Melbourne, each new season brings new fashions, new meal menus at our favourite cafes and restaurants, new sporting choices and so on. Ah, the seasons. I feel a bit sorry for other capital cities that cannot be like Melbourne. In many of these there is one basic climate all year around. I think that would be a bit boring. I like the seasons that mark off our year. Melbourne is a centre of fashion, sport, art and culture, wine and dining and a heap of other things. It’s a great city and I love living here. The different seasons usher in these things for us.
No season lasts forever …
Thinking about the seasons, my mind went to the prophet Daniel’s prayer – it is quite instructive … Daniel 2:20-23 (NET Bible)
“Let the name of God be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to Him.
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposing some kings and establishing others.
He gives wisdom to the wise;
He imparts knowledge to those with understanding;
22 He reveals deep and hidden things.
He knows what is in the darkness,
and light resides with Him.
23 O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify You, …”
Did you see verse 21 there? “He changes times and seasons …” Hmmm, I thought time and the seasons were pretty much set and couldn’t be messed with? So, what does this mean? Here’s a bit of backstory: Daniel is in serious trouble and, along with all the other ‘wise men’, astrologers, wizards and sorcerers in Babylon at that time, was to be executed because none could tell King Nebuchadnezzar his dream and then interpret it. The king was desperate. All year he had being having weird dreams – really vivid ones – and he was afraid to go to sleep. He became an insomniac. But the dreams soon caught up with him.
Anyway, this particular dream was quite dramatic and the king demands an answer that simply must be true. Usually, he would tell his dream and the astrologers and wizards would interpret. However, after a long time of unsatisfactory dream interpretations the king simply has to know the truth about this one - without any doubt. He consults the astrologers and so on, but sets a new standard for them – he has to know the truth. They have to first tell the king his dream, then interpret it. (Only one other person had ever done that before, and that was Joseph when he stood before Pharoah more than 1000 years before!).
The astrologers and company protest this impossible ask. This is a bar so high no man can do it, they complain. The king becomes furious and basically says, “If you cannot do it, you’re all dead!” He means it. He issues a decree. Now, caught up in this group is Daniel and his friends. Earlier on in Daniel we learn that he had been drafted into the king’s service along with some other captured Israelite nobles because he had shown aptitude, wisdom and a quick learning potential. So, the king’s decree is issued and it quickly comes to Daniel’s attention.
Prompted by Holy Spirit, and with great wisdom and tact, Daniel asks for an audience with the king. He asks the king for time that he might go and pray and bring the king a true and accurate dream interpretation. The king agrees. Daniel returns to his home and begins to pray the prayer above. He praises God saying “He changes times and seasons, … he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things.”
He acknowledges in his prayer that for the God who orders and sets in place time and the seasons as we know them, and who reveals deep and hidden things, the dreams inside a king’s head are not difficult for Him to reveal, either. Ordering time and bringing about the seasonal changes are not any trouble for God at all. Neither is a dream interpretation.
God reveals the dream to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel asks to see the king and is granted an audience.
Daniel 2:26-28 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" 27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: …”
Daniel is in an impossible situation. But he humbly prays acknowledging God’s awesome power to do anything and in so doing, declares his faith in this same God thus positioning himself for an answer – and God responds in mercy and grace. After interpreting the king’s dreams, the king falls prostrate before Daniel overwhelmed by what has just happened. And Daniel is promoted to a very high position in the king’s court
… and a new season for him, and many others, is opened …
We’re in a hard season, no doubt – it probably feels harder than it really is. But this season will pass. The big issue is, in this season right now what wisdom and insights, what revelation and understanding are we seeking from God that we may speak that into someone else’s life, and so, help usher in a new season for them. Or, perhaps, even our family, or ourselves?
The God of Daniel, our God, who sets time in place and changes the seasons at the right times, is the God who will reveal to you “deep and hidden things” in this season, for use in the next.
FINAL WORD
Acts 1:7-8 [Jesus] replied, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
God does not always explain to us why a season is occurring, or even how long it will be. We do know that God has His reasons for these seasons and that they do conclude when God has finished using the season for His glorious kingdom purposes. But Jesus is saying right here that regardless of the season – especially when we don’t know what is going on or why, we receive power to journey in the season with power from Holy Spirit. And we overcome, despite the challenges and unfairness of it all … and we give witness to God at work in us and through us … just like Daniel did. And even kings will listen.
We can do this, friends. We can.
You are dearly, dearly loved.
Ps Milton