Daniel 2:1-13
In the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar started having dreams that disturbed him deeply. He couldn’t sleep. He called in all the Babylonian magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and fortunetellers to interpret his dreams for him. When they came and lined up before the king, he said to them, “I had a dream that I can’t get out of my mind. I can’t sleep until I know what it means.”The fortunetellers, speaking in the Aramaic language, said, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream and we will interpret it.”
The king answered the fortunetellers, “This is my decree: If you can’t tell me both the dream itself and its interpretation, I’ll have you ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and your homes torn down. But if you tell me both the dream and its interpretation, I’ll lavish you with gifts and honors. So go to it: Tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
They answered, “If it please your majesty, tell us the dream. We’ll give the interpretation.”
But the king said, “I know what you’re up to—you’re just playing for time. You know you’re up a tree. You know that if you can’t tell me my dream, you’re doomed. I see right through you—you’re going to cook up some fancy stories and confuse the issue until I change my mind. Nothing doing! First tell me the dream, then I’ll know that you’re on the up and up with the interpretation and not just blowing smoke in my eyes.”
The fortunetellers said, “Nobody anywhere can do what you ask. And no king, great or small, has ever demanded anything like this from any magician, enchanter, or fortuneteller. What you’re asking is impossible unless some god or goddess should reveal it—and they don’t hang around with people like us.”
That set the king off. He lost his temper and ordered the whole company of Babylonian wise men killed. When the death warrant was issued, Daniel and his companions were included. They also were marked for execution.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
More times than I can count, my grandmother presented me with a litany of ailments. “My back is killing me… my head hurts… I can’t get my breath…I’ve felt light-headed or dizzy.” I took her to see the doctor, and when he entered her exam room and asked “How are you today?” she replied, “I’m fine.” On the way home, she would say, “Well, that doctor really didn’t do anything for me!” How could he? After playing “20 Questions” to try and determine her symptoms, he was reduced to guessing at a diagnosis and treatment. Often he erred on the side of caution and ordered a battery of tests - many of which were unpleasant and probably unnecessary. But it was his only recourse in order to protect his patient – and his reputation.
So often, we simply do not have all of the facts. Can you imagine trying to guess what another person dreamed at night… particularly under duress and the threat of dismemberment and death? Yet every time we assume that we know what another person is thinking, our behavior is virtually the same. There may be physicians who claim they can look at you and tell exactly what is wrong… but I would not want one of them treating me! And I wouldn’t want others to judge me based on their own mind-reading abilities!
So what does this mean for us as Christians? First, we must remember that we don’t always have all of the facts… and without them, we can’t possibly make critical judgments about others. We can’t decisively say, “He is lazy,” or “She’s not really sick,” or most certainly, “This person is not a Christian!” We cannot tell others what to do or how to change certain aspects of their life based on casual observations… or even what we think we know to be the facts. At the end of the day, we must stop looking at other people and saying with self-designated authority, “This is what is wrong with you!”
God calls us to love and encourage others… to offer help and hope… and advice when it is requested. But instead of saying, “This is what you should do,” or “You are so wrong,” we need to say, “If this were my decision, I would do this,” or “Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I would recommend such-and-such approach.” There is also no shame in telling another person, “It appears as if this or that is happening… but I don’t have all of the facts, so I cannot say for sure how you should proceed.” The only person who can see into the heart of another is God Almighty… and we are not in His league!
Like the king who really didn’t want to hear his dream recanted and interpreted, we often are setting others up for failure and disappointment by trying to guess what is happening in certain situations. When we give someone else half of the story and expect them to fill in the gaps and treat us a certain way, we have offered nothing more than a not-so-clever trick of our own. King Nebuchadnezzar was angered by the response… and as a king, he felt he had the authority to wield consequences.
There is only One King in our lives… and we humans are not kings! We must ask God to help us temper our reactions to others… to help us operate in truth and the facts as we know them… and to leave judgment and interpretation to Him. Who have you judged or criticized because of a lack of information? Where have you demanded that people treat you in a certain way based on limited facts? Isn’t it time we operated in truth and facts… and left the intangibles for God to handle? Are you ready to get started?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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