Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“The Chaldeans answered the king, ‘There is no one on earth who can reveal what the king demands! In fact no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king is asking is too difficult, and no one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 8, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Nebuchadnezzar was asking the impossible. He not only demanded his advisors to interpret his strange dream, but first he wanted them to tell him what it was—actually read his mind. It’s pretty ridiculous, actually. But it sets the stage for God to show up, in the person of Daniel, and do exactly this impossible task. It will prove God is greater than all the Chaldean gods, and begin to work a change in Nebuchadnezzar’s beliefs and, in a ripple effect, his entire empire. It’s ahistorical, of course, but it makes a great story.
How often do we demand the impossible from ourselves and one another? How often do we expect people to read our minds, and then in resentment close ourselves off to the potential wisdom and knowledge they might have for us if they only knew what we were thinking? I used to do this a lot, actually. I assumed I knew what others around me were thinking and that they had nothing of value to give me, and if they did, well, then they would be able to read my mind and give me what I needed without my having to ask for it. It’s a little insane, isn’t it? Or maybe a lot insane.
The truth is that the stage is always set for God to show up in and through the people around us and deliver the wisdom we need to hear in any given moment. If we are open to it, sometimes the most impossible situations suddenly loosen and become possible. The key is not to demand what we want on our terms and our timeline, but to do whatever next right action is indicated and trust the outcome to God.
When has God shown up in a seemingly impossible way in my life?
