I think about my future and plan for it, but what is to come remains inaccessible, floating in a mist beyond my view. Even dimmer than my guesses of the future are many things I simply cannot know, the dreams of a stranger being one.

The enchanters and astrologers of Babylon woke up to just such a task. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to both tell him his dream and explain it to him. Impossible! The charlatans cried. Off with your heads then, you fake sorcerers! Retorted the king.

Daniel got wind of this impossible situation when a guard arrived to take his life. Granted an extension, Daniel and his friends prayed for mercy from the God of heaven who revealed the mystery of the dream. Daniel honored God:

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his…He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.

Just as God understands the past, he knows the future—all that lies in darkness. Like Daniel and his friends, I can pray and ask the Lord for wisdom regarding my future. I may not receive answers with such specificity as Daniel, but I can lean into God’s wisdom as I consider what is to come.

Daniel 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Thanos Pal