Daniel 1-6 CSB
So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, urging them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men. The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens (2:16-19)
As a young teenager, Daniel and his three friends were taken into captivity in Babylon. They distinguished themselves and were soon being groomed for leadership roles. From chapter 1 where they chose to not eat from the King’s table to his episode in the lion’s den, Daniel always did what was right and was used by God in extraordinary ways. Yet, even though he was used in extraordinary ways he wasn’t necessarily an extraordinary person. We often see Daniel as a powerful prophet, but in many of these stories, he is just a kid making the right choices at the right time.
Every time that Daniel is called upon to answer the king or interpret a dream he makes it clear that it has nothing to do with him, but that the interpretation comes from God. He never claims to have any gift of divination or any kind of special ability; he only claims to know the God of the universe in a personal way and he makes it clear that God has his total allegiance. Even Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego) are just boys who stand for what is right regardless of the cost.
When you look at Daniel’s very first test in his role as a “wise man,” he doesn’t try to talk his way out of trouble or appeal to a trick with smoke and mirrors. Instead, he simply asks for time and he asks his three friends to pray with him. They meet together, they pray and God gives them the answer. The secret of Daniel is not that he was an extraordinary man; the secret is that he served an extraordinary God and he prayed and listened to God’s instruction every step of the way. Daniel’s God is our God and we can pray just as he did. We also can stand for what is right and trust God by faith. Daniel is a bible hero because he understood who God is and he walked by faith and not by sight. What is keeping you from being like Daniel?
