Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to tell me the interpretation. You are able, however, for you are endowed with a spirit of the holy gods.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, August 12, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Know your “go-to people”. Good ol’ Nebuchadnezzar has had another bizarre dream and this time he knows exactly who to ask for help making sense of it. He doesn’t bother going to his old crew, who utterly failed him the last time. Nope. Daniel is his “go-to person” because Daniel, as the king is beginning to grok, is spiritually connected to the only One with any real power. God.
I’ve always been a figure-it-out kind of person. It’s not that I don’t like asking for help. I’ve never really had a problem with that on the surface. Something in me just figures “I’ve got this” whenever I’m presented with some sort of conundrum. But there are conundrums in life I can’t possibly “got.” They can be practical (ask me about navigating social services for an adult disabled child sometime) or material (my parents recently bought me a car when mine was stolen and I couldn’t afford to replace it) or, as in most cases, spiritual. In fact, even the practical and material conundrums I face are, when I dig a little deeper, spiritual in a lot of ways. How do I show up for my kids in a spirit of love and service not just to them, but to the social services employees who are so completely overworked and overwhelmed? How do I accept financial support with humility and gratitude? I have lots of “go-to people” in my life—people who know me deeply, who have an astonishing breadth of wisdom and experience, and who are generous with their loving guidance in spiritual and material matters. God speaks through these amazing people, just as God did through Daniel, and I am grateful to know where to go when I’m faced with uncertainty or distress.
Who are my “go-to people”? How can I be a loving “go-to person” for others?
