by: Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
Look
up!
At the
end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my
sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High: I honored and glorified him
who lives forever.
Daniel 4:34
Within her playful children’s book, Alexander
and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst spins a
tale of Alexander’s day that moves from bad to worse. Page by page Alexander
laments, “I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very
bad day.”
Can you even begin to imagine King
Nebuchadnezzar’s bad day when his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and
his nails like the claws of a bird? Talk about moving from bad to worse. The
king was driven from his palace and people for seven years to live with wild
animals. He ate grass like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of
heaven.
What moved King Nebuchadnezzar from the
palace to the pasture? Pride! In his arrogance he commanded people to bow to
his image of gold. In his conceit he walked on the roof of his royal palace and
said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by
my mighty power and for the power of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30)
These words were still on his lips
when a voice came from heaven (v. 31) reiterated the details of God’s divine
punishment. What originated as a dream twelve months previous became his
immediate reality.
Whenever Scripture wants to grab our
attention things are repeated. Three times within Daniel 4 it says, Acknowledge
that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to
anyone he wishes (v. 17, 25, 32).
Acknowledge God’s Sovereignty! We mustn’t
question it and we certainly can’t change it. He is Sovereign–even over our
most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. He is the Most High–there’s no
one higher or greater! He is God; we are not. Heaven rules! (v. 26)
The king’s move from pride to humility
took place when he looked up. At the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
raised my eyes toward heaven (v. 34). He took his eyes off of himself. He
stopped looking down from his palace rooftop at all he had accomplished through
his supposed power and might, and he looked up to God Most High.
Pride flees when we look up and
acknowledge that God is the greatest! Humble people stop looking at themselves,
and refuse to look down at others or play the comparison game. They look up and
keep their eyes fixed on Jesus.
HE>i: Where is the focus from self to God most
needed in your life?
We think that our biggest problems come from
our failures; God thinks our biggest problems come from our pride.
Bob Goof
No comments:
Post a Comment