"Dealing with vision -- while Vision deals with you!" Part II

Praise the Lord, Chosen Women!

   Are you full in the swing of the holiday season? Go ahead and enjoy this season! For many it is festive and especially joyous -- a time of celebrations, family gatherings, giving and visiting. Yet for others it brings stress as they try to please people with tangible things which they cannot afford; and grieve over losses, unfulfilled hopes and unmet desires. Please keep Jesus in the forefront of your mind. Do not go into deeper debt. Encourage gratitude in your household. Help create an atmosphere where gift giving does not alienate anyone. What about encouraging handmade gifts or low dollar amount limits in your gift exchanges?

We are helping our son greatly purge his already overflowing toy boxes to give to more needy children. Our goal is to positively help impact his character as opposed to just piling more toys into his room to boost our parental egos. Parents, take a look at why you are doing what you are doing. So often it is not about them -- it is about your bragging rights. I am not trying to put a damper on your Christmas -- just please weigh your motives. Remember that famous saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season." If you do believe that please do something that brings HIM glory in these coming days. This week we continue into Part 2 of the powerful 3 Part Series by Dr. Zenobia Bereal.

In Service for the Master,

Evangelist Lisa Y. Mitchell
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"Dealing with vision -- while Vision deals with you!"

     King Neb was a bully who depended on gods!  He was a heathen king and he acted just like a heathen when under pressure.  He became desperate and threatened to kill the wise men of Babylon and destroy their personal property.  The astrologers answered him:

“There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks!  What the king asks is too difficult.  No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.” (2:10a-11)

     My brother used to always say, “a man has to know his limitations!”  These magicians knew their limitations – the demands imposed on them were too great, and their futures were bleak.  They knew how to perform magic, but their sorcery skills could not work miracles!The gods work magic; which is a temporary fix.Magic may help you get by, but miracles set you free.A miracle will help you escape death – God sets you free from every oppressive foe!  The God-given problem upset the apple cart for everyone involved: King Neb, and the wise men of Babylon, which included God’s servants: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; who are more popularly known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They were completely unaware of what was going on!  All of a sudden, their lives were in danger.  God had not foretold them anything.  Servant of God, sometimes the trouble just appears out of nowhere.

     The furious, maniacal King Neb made a decree, ordering that all of the wise men of Babylon be put to death.The man was desperately insane because of his God-given vision.The burden of the Lord was on King Neb, and he didn’t have a relationship with God, so instead of him knowing how to deal with a vision, it dealt with him!  Herein lies the point concerning vision: 

Whenever God chooses to deal with any human being, no one can resolve God’s will, giving them peace but God. 

     In this case, God dealt with King Neb who ruled over Israel at that time, because they were in captivity in Babylon.  However, God never gives up complete authority over his people Israel.  God wanted King Neb to know, “look, I sent my people here to be under your leadership in order to punish them, but don’t get it twisted, I love Israel!  You and everybody else must understand that you are under my Authority.  They may call you king, but remember . . . I AM THE KING!” 

     Daniel and his friends were God’s servants who were subject to King Neb’s evil authority, and because of this things went crazy.  Arioch, the commander of King Neb’s guards had gone out to put to death all of the wise men of Babylon.  Men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.  Daniel spoke with Arioch and asked him, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?”  Arioch explained everything to Daniel, and he went to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.  When Daniel got home, he explained everything to his friends. 

“He urged them to plead for mercy from God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.  During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.  Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.”  (2:18-19)

     Using Daniel as a model, let’s walk through the process of finding God when God-given trouble is dealing with you:

1.      Daniel plainly asked Arioch, “why is this happening?”  Get a clear understanding about what the problem is.  When trouble presents itself, there is a tendency to emotionally overreact!  The devil gets busy in the mind, and creates false realities that seem very believable!  If you feel insecure, afraid, defensive, etc. recognize that the devil is driving your feelings.  Satan loves confusion, because it keeps you entangled.  Insanity and frustration are hand-in-hand.  When trouble comes, get a clear understanding about what is really going on.  Take the time, calm down and listen carefully.  If you don’t have an understanding of what the problem is, how can you seek a proper solution? 

2.  Daniel went to King Neb about the situation.  Go straight to the source of the problem.  Once you find out what the problem is, does it really help to rehearse it over and over and over again with anyone who will listen?  Usually it doesn’t help at all!  People will give you all kinds of counsel and opinion, but at the end of the day, you will still need to have the courage to confront.  Think on this.

(Find out what else to do when we complete this powerful series next week. If you missed Part I please scroll down to see last week's blog. Have a wonderful week in Him!)