In today’s reflection, we continue our journey through Daniel 2 and look at Daniel’s response to a crisis with prudence and discretion. Before we speak, are there times when we need to ask, “Does this need to be said? Does it need to be said by me? Does it need to be said by me now?” We also talk about dreams, how God sometimes uses unexpected ways to speak to us, and the importance of creating enough quiet in our lives to actually listen. Sometimes God may be speaking, but we’re simply too busy or distracted to hear. Daniel reminds us to slow down, seek God’s wisdom, and trust that God is with us—even when we don’t understand what comes next.
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Good morning. Hope you’re doing well today and having a good start to your week. It’s good to be with you as we continue together in our time in Daniel.
We were talking yesterday about how, now that school has started and Mississippi State is back in session, we’re getting into that regular rhythm. And I like rhythm. I appreciate many of you reaching out and telling me that you enjoy these reflections each morning. If you’re watching the video, it goes up at 7:00. If you get the email, it goes out at 6:00 in the morning, and if you’re listening to the podcast, it goes up at 5:00. So if you’re an early riser or you’re on your way to work, check your podcast app and hopefully it’ll be there.
But there’s something good about regular rhythms. And so it’s good to be in this rhythm with Daniel.
Today we’re going to read Daniel chapter 2. My Bible breaks chapter 2 into several sections, but I want to put these two sections together because I think it makes more sense when you see them together. We’re going to read verses 1 through 23.
Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. He’s troubled by it, and he calls in all of his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldeans and tells them, basically, “Tell me what I dreamed and then tell me what it means.”
And they say, “Well, King, tell us the dream and we’ll tell you what it means.”
And Nebuchadnezzar says, “Nope. You tell me the dream first.”
And they say, “Well, nobody can do that. What you’re asking is impossible.”
And Nebuchadnezzar gets angry and decides that all the wise men in Babylon are going to be killed.
That includes Daniel and his friends.
So Daniel hears about this and, in verse 14, it says that Daniel responded with prudence and discretion. I really like that.
Daniel doesn’t immediately panic. He doesn’t start yelling. He doesn’t start blaming people. He doesn’t start saying, “Well, this is ridiculous! Somebody needs to do something!”
He simply asks what is going on.
The great theologian Chris Rock once said that there are three questions you ought to ask yourself before you say something:
Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me now?
I think those are three pretty good questions for us to think about.
Does this need to be said?
You know, sometimes we’ll say, “I probably shouldn’t say this, but…” Well, if you have to begin with “I probably shouldn’t say this,” then maybe you probably shouldn’t say it.
Does this need to be said by me?
There are things that need to be said, but I’m not necessarily the person who needs to say them. Sometimes somebody else needs to speak that word. Sometimes you may hear something from a guest preacher that you can’t hear from your regular preacher. That’s one of the reasons it’s good to have different voices speak into our lives.
And then, does it need to be said by me now?
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no.
Jesus talks about not casting pearls before swine. Sometimes people simply aren’t ready to hear what you need to tell them. And that’s okay. It doesn’t make them bad, and it doesn’t make you bad. It just means that now may not be the right time.
Daniel understood that.
He didn’t storm into the king’s presence and start demanding answers. He asked what was happening. He asked for time. And that opened the door for him to eventually speak the word that needed to be spoken.
And then there’s another really interesting part of this story: the dream itself.
Throughout Scripture, we see God communicating through dreams. Think about Jacob’s dream of the ladder. Think about Joseph. Think about Peter and the vision of the clean and unclean foods. There are a lot of places in Scripture where God communicates through dreams.
Now, I don’t want you to hear me say that every dream you have is God trying to tell you something. Some of us have some pretty strange dreams, and I don’t think God is responsible for all of them.
I’ve got a therapist who’s big on the idea that our dreams are often our brains processing things that we may not even fully understand. There’s something happening inside us, and our brains are working through it while we’re asleep.
And I think there’s something to that.
But I also believe there are times when God can speak to us through our dreams.
And maybe one of the reasons dreams can be so powerful is that, for once, we actually have our undivided attention.
Think about how much noise we have in our lives. Phones. Television. Social media. Work. Family. Responsibilities. Conversations. Notifications. Emails. All of it.
Sometimes we barely have enough quiet to hear ourselves think, much less hear God.
But when we’re asleep, all of that noise is gone. Maybe that’s part of why dreams can sometimes get through to us in ways that other things don’t.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’ve had a lot of dreams where God has spoken to me. I don’t usually remember my dreams. Holly, on the other hand, seems to remember all of hers, and they’re usually something crazy.
I have one dream that I have over and over again. It’s where I’m late for a calculus test, and I suddenly realize I haven’t been to class the entire semester.
Every time I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh! Today’s the calculus final! I forgot to go to class the entire semester!”
I guess that’s some residual PTSD from calculus.
Maybe you’ve got one of those dreams too. Maybe it’s not calculus. Maybe it’s something else.
But I do remember one dream that I believe God used to speak to me.
It was when I was a senior in high school, around the time when I really gave my heart to Jesus. And if you’ve ever been a senior in high school, you know that’s a strange season of life. You’re thinking about college. You’re thinking about leaving home. You’re thinking about what comes next. There’s a lot going on.
I remember having this dream, and I don’t really remember what happened in the dream. I just remember that everything was terrible. And as I was coming out of the dream, I had this sense—almost like a voice in my heart and soul—that said, “Andy, it’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you. It’s going to be okay.”
And I woke up not long after that with this incredible sense of peace.
I just knew that God was going to be with me. I knew that whatever was coming next, it was going to be okay.
Now, I don’t think every dream is a message from God. I don’t think we need to wake up every morning and start interpreting every strange thing our brains come up with.
But I do believe there are times when God speaks to us in ways we don’t expect.
And maybe the bigger lesson for us in Daniel isn’t simply that God speaks through dreams.
Maybe it’s that we need to create enough space in our lives to actually listen.
We need some quiet.
We need some stillness.
We need some moments without the noise and the distractions where we can simply be present before God.
Because maybe God is speaking more often than we realize. Maybe the problem isn’t that God isn’t speaking. Maybe sometimes the problem is that we’re not listening.
Daniel had prudence and discretion. He knew when to speak and when to wait. And when the moment came, he sought God. He didn’t pretend that he had all the answers. He asked God for wisdom, and God gave it to him.
I think there’s a good lesson there for all of us.
Before we speak, maybe we should ask: Does this need to be said? Does this need to be said by me? Does this need to be said by me now?
And then, perhaps even more importantly, we should ask: Have I been quiet long enough to hear what God might be saying?
Tomorrow we’ll pick up with Daniel’s interpretation of the dream and see what happens next.
So, hey, have a great rest of your day. Find a little quiet today. Listen. Pay attention. And maybe you’ll hear something you wouldn’t have heard otherwise.
Thanks for being with us. We’ll see you in the morning.