5 Perspectives for Enduring Panic Attacks
Panic attacks—they are crippling. Your mind spins, your pulse is out-of-control fast, the world fades, and you feel like you are sinking into it. If this is happening to you—I am so very sorry.
I understand that you have likely spent significant time praying and yearning for a remedy. I understand that you cannot envision your life like this—tomorrow or years ahead. And I understand that when you hear the words “worry,” “fear,” or “anxious” from others applied to your brand of panic and anxiety, you often cannot relate to what is said next. I understand that you would stop the panic attacks if you could, that they cannot be resisted like sin can be resisted. And I understand that you have trouble feeling normal.
Yet, this is your normalcy even now. Your goal today is as it has ever been—to be faithful to your God by being a keeper of his Word, and to endure with him, in his presence, until the day he sovereignly brings you relief, whether now or in eternity. Until then, endure well by remembering his Word to you.
Here are five perspectives to help endure panic attacks well.
1. A day with panic is not a bad day.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:26, 28)
If you cannot do everything today that you did yesterday, lament this before the Lord. And then move forward. Even more, move forward as the Psalms do—to praise.
There is much you can do today. You can praise and honor the Lord God. He is with you. So this day is very precious. If you had a panic attack today and all you can comprehend is recovering, then recover to his glory. Recover in his presence. Ask how you can worship your way through recovery, acknowledging in your heart and to those around you his good works. Or, if you can comprehend doing more, though still not as much as you would like to do, then lament that too. Lament what you cannot do this day, and move forward to praise in what you can do.
There is much joy to find—even if you wish the day could feel different. No day is a throw-away day when you can still praise God in what you think, love, speak, and do. This day may not be your ideal. But this is a beautiful day. This is a good day. Enjoy it as a gift. And every day is new and independent of the last; start anew each day.
2. The resolution is not up to you.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my path. (Psalm 142:3a)
You do not know the plans God has for your life. Believing that a good day is only one in which you are cured of panic attacks and anxiety is just as unwise and untrue as determining for yourself that panic attacks and anxiety will be with you for the rest of your days. You simply do not know. You do not know what change or progress God might bring.
But when the foundation of your life is God’s sovereignty, you do not need to know. He has a plan. As you continue to be faithful to his Word and ways, he will enable you to fulfill his plan for your life regardless of whether panic attacks and anxiety come along or not.
He is gracious, loving, caring, generous, infinitely thoughtful, and gentle with you. He knows how you feel, truly. Christian, he knows your heart, he sees every longing to honor him still—and that you wonder how this will be possible. Trust his sovereignty; don’t make plans for three or thirty years from now that you do not have enough information to make. Don’t spend your thoughts on what you do not know. Instead, ask God for ways to honor him—ask that you might fulfill every good purpose he has for you. He knows your path—even on the days when you cannot think too deeply, and even concerning the aspects of the future outside of your present comprehension.
3. God protects you.
Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)
Panic attacks and anxiety impact your life in legitimate, practical ways. I understand the barriers before you to overcome—that the grocery store, or the place where you experienced your first panic attack, or that flight to a vacation you want to enjoy, feel out of reach. I understand that taking a step too soon can be unwise, bringing an experience of panic that will then require even more from you as you move forward. Most of all, I understand that what is simple for another person is, for you, completely courageous.
So pray for wisdom to know simply the next stepof faithfulness. Don’t concern yourself so much with an end goal, and don’t forget that your anxiety about that next step is often worse than the experience itself. You do not know how you’ll feel then, but you can trust now. Take just that next step and don’t categorically disqualify yourself from any experience in the future. Be patient with your progress.
God is already protecting you. So be wise and prayerful without believing the lie that you are sovereign over your own protection. God leads your progress and your life. On this earth, God will act to protect you as he sees fit; no matter what happens, he will protect you straight into eternity. And he knows your heart and your mind already—and perfectly. So be courageous, prayerful, wise, and patient, even as you have already been.
4. Use this opportunity to examine your life.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)
When panic attacks and anxiety come, all of life’s concerns and discontents are magnified. Your internal processing is intensified. What comes to mind? This is an opportunity. Use this time to identify what is presently most concerning to your heart in order to grow in holiness and loving obedience before the Lord. The cares of this world are passing away—to which ones do we cling? What sins are we cherishing that we can confess and turn from? What weights can we lay off and entrust to him?
While there is opportunity for self-examination, let it also reach its natural end. This is not to say that there is an end to sin in this life. But this period of life and the reflection it allows can be directed in prayer to the God who leads you on according to his everlastingly good ways. During times of panic and anxiety, we tend to fixate ourselves on finding a cure. The temptation here will be to use opportunities for increased righteousness as a way to be cured, or even to bargain for a cure, instead of as a way to purely honor God.
Your reason to grow in holiness is not for the purpose of ridding yourself of suffering, but simply for the purpose of growing closer to the heart of Christ in what you think, love, say, and do. Once you have confessed your sin and repented, trust in Christ’s forgiveness and move forward from it with him.
5. Peace can dwell even in the midst of panic.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
You will find ways to grow and be stretched in loving obedience to God in the particulars of your panic attacks and anxiety. Through self-examination and receiving God’s forgiveness, and through perspective and holiness in this trial, you will find a renewed experience of peace. Your experience of peace is possible because of the genuine and unalterable peace that you have been given with your God.
Be at peace with how you choose to live amidst panic attacks and anxiety. Feel also your firm, already-accomplished peace with God in Christ. You have this; it cannot leave.
Now, you can have this rest—salvific peace with God and experiential peace in your heart and mind—while still going on to experience a panic attack outside of your control. Peace can dwell within that experience, saying, God, my peace is you, and I live in peace before you, though still this panic comes over me. Please do not be discouraged in your faith, as if a panic attack disqualifies you from knowing peace. Endure now and take heart—press on and know confidently that you have the crown of life waiting for you (James 1:12).
God’s presence with you enables you to endure panic attacks well. He is solid, like an unbreakable rod in the center of who you are that connects you to him. Cling to him. Remind yourself, continually if needed, the perspectives he teaches. They will always be there for you; his Word never fails and you have access to him always. Look to him, “to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).
As you do, whether or not your panic attacks and anxiety are removed, so much will be added to you.
Parents and Children Motivated by the Gospel
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. (Exodus 20:12)
God had miraculously brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt at the time when Israel received the Ten Commandments. God was setting them apart as a nation unto himself, a nation from which would one day come the Christ.
These commandments were later written on physical tablets by God. Yet, after receiving these tablets from God, Moses witnessed the same Israelites—who were not long before miraculously rescued by God—worship a golden calf fashioned by their own hands. According to Exodus 32:19, at that moment Moses “threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.”
Later, after wandering—both physically and spiritually—God brought the Israelites to the land that he promised them—a promise that traced back generations, first given to Abraham (Genesis 12:1). God was faithful to his promises; his people would have an abundant place to call home.
On the brink of entering into this land, God re-states the Ten Commandments within a series of instructions to the nation. The promises associated with obedience to these commandments are abundant: possession of a land from the hand of God that is “a land flowing with milk and honey,” (Deuteronomy 11:9) and “a land for which God cares” (Deuteronomy 11:12).
Parents Motivated by God’s Greatness
When speaking to the Israelites about the rewards of obedience, as well as about the consequences of disobedience, God says, “I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God—his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 11:2).
Notably, when talking about the benefits of obedience and the consequences of disobedience, God is speaking to fathers—not sons.
Giving children what they want and what makes them happy can come oh-so-easily to the heart of a parent; yet, the better goal—the way God steers our hearts as parents—is through the reminder that there are eternal blessings with loving the Lord and real warnings that accompany unbelief. Each day, we as parents are a witness to our children in words and actions of the abundance we have in Christ and the truth he is.
Not many verses prior to reminding the Israelites about rewards and consequences is the Shema, which are focal verses in the Old Testament. Shema literally means “hear.” Israel, be attentive to this!
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to you sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Christian, hear this. Love the Lord! Be diligent in teaching those who come after you about him! We are a witness to our children of the abundance of Christ because we have seen great things—greater things than Israel.
We have not seen God part the Red Sea. We have not seen God send manna from heaven. We have not seen God part the river Jordan so that we can take possession of a promised land. But what we have participated in is even greater.
After all, which is easier—for God to part the Red Sea, or for him to say that our sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:5)? What we have to tell our children is what the Israelites longed to know (1 Peter 1:10-11). The risen Christ washes our sins away, and he is our bread of life from heaven through whom we never go hungry.
Our parenting is motivated by the greatness of our God in Christ.
Children Honoring God by Honoring Our Parents
God designed that parents would tell their children about him and how to please him: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Exodus 20:12). The Israelites were to honor their parents because their possession of the land was conditional:
Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. Or the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
In God’s design, honoring our parents would be equivalent to honoring him and his ways; honoring their parents as Israelites would be equivalent to enjoying the blessings of the promised land. Ideally, when we honor our parents, it is equivalent to honoring what God has taught.
When Fathers and Sons Are Calf-Worshippers
But, sometimes, we as people are calf-worshippers. Sometimes, we have not been made a priority by our parents in our past. Or sometimes, we are fatherless or motherless. Or sometimes, children do not honor their parents who are godly. Or sometimes, children resent the gospel. Or sometimes, we don’t give the best examples to follow. Or sometimes, we don’t see our children for the priorities they are. And sometimes, though we try and pray, we do not get parenting right.
How do we move forward when God’s commandments are effectively shattered—as Moses symbolized when he shattered those tablets?
We remember this: Who gives our abundance, but Christ? “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Exodus 20:12, emphasis mine).
He always gives. He gives our deliverance. He gives our forgiveness. He gives us teachings that help us know how to honor him. He gives us care. He fulfills his promises. He rescues us from our sin. He gives us hearts that love him. He gives us Christ. Even when Christ’s abundance imperfectly comes through our natural parents—or does not come at all—the Lord our God gives us perfect abundance. And because of his greatness in our lives, we see our role in the lives of our children as great because of the God we tell them about.
When life does not unfold according to the design of God, we ask him to rewrite his ways into our lives so that we can do what is unnatural for us. We can honor our fathers and mothers, noting the significance of who they are to us as children, by extending compassion regardless of their actions. We can continue to bear witness to our children about the abundance of Christ through our words and actions, regardless of their responses. We can accept God’s grace and mercy in order to again seek to make God great in our children’s eyes, regardless of yesterday’s parenting failures.
We continue to care because, as Pastor Colin taught, “that’s what God is like.” We think about how God gives, and we can give—continually seeking and asking that he rewrite what’s been shattered.
This post was originally published at Unlocking the Bible.
3 Benefits of the Law for Those Under Grace
As Christians, we champion grace. Rightly so. We read, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14), responding with an emphatic, Amen! The law is a great burden, one that you and I could not fulfill. Praise God that we are under his grace! Our salvation rests upon this.
In the New Testament (NT), the Old Testament (OT) law is described as something that “proved to be death” to us (Romans 7:10), “came to increase trespass” (Romans 5:20), and held us “captive” and “imprisoned” (Galatians 3:23).
So, in addition to being life-long advocates of the grace we have been given in Christ, we read these verses about the law and perhaps find ample reason to dismiss it. If the law proved to be death, came to increase trespass, and held us captive, are we not given reason to believe that Christianity in the NT has advanced in an alternate direction—away from the law of the OT?
However, we also have to contend with NT expressions. For example, in Matthew 5:17, Christ teaches that he is indeed not progressing away from the law: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” If that is not enough to convince you that Christ did not intend for us to abandon the law, I submit to you Romans 3:31: “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
An important question we may have is of the correct interpretation of the OT law in the NT age—for example, how exactly does all of Leviticus apply to us today? My purpose here is to write about our attitude toward the law, not to answer our questions of interpretation. My hope is that we will be motivated to learn more about interpretation after reading of the benefits of that work.
So, if according to NT teachings, we are not moving away from the law—if God indeed did not push some proverbial re-set button with Christ, nullifying it for us—then we are left with this question: What benefit does the law possibly have for those under grace?
We See Our Need More Clearly
The law serves to inform us of and increase our awareness of our sin.
We need to be taught and instructed, then taught and instructed again. Do you not feel that too? We need definitions and designations about right and wrong—teachings to visit and revisit. We are indeed “prone to wander.” So, God gave the law as a concrete, definitive designation—reflective of his righteous and holy character—about how to honor him in this life he has given. How goodthat we have this gift!
Following the law out of a motivation of love for the Lord and his character is an incredibly life-giving way to live. Think of an area of sin over which you have gained freedom. How much more abundant is life on the other side of every sin! Being freed of sin is not merely the absence of that sinful behavior. Being freed of sin is deeper communion with God and lasting joy from faithfulness to him. That is why Paul could say that law promised life.
The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. (Romans 7:10)
Yet, the law also proved to be death to those with a sinful nature. The law did not keep sinners from sinning. The law is holy, righteous, and good. But mankind has a propensity toward sin. Commandments plus the sin-nature do not function well together at all.
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (Romans 7:11-12)
Perhaps you too have heard this oft-cited example:
If you draw “do not write here” on the chalkboard and leave the piece of chalk right underneath, our nature produces in us a desire to defy—to write on that chalkboard. So, whereas the law itself is a good provision for which to be thankful, mankind’s sinful nature becomes revealed clearly for what it is.
Christians can relate as Paul pinpoints the condition of our hearts: “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19). Later he speaks of himself: “Wretched man that I am” (Romans 7:24)!
Wretched are we! The law is necessary for us. It is not to be neglected because through it we see ourselves more clearly, as Romans 4:15 teaches: “Where there is no law there is no transgression.” Our awareness of our sin is increased. It points us to the true source of our salvation, Christ: “From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
We Praise Christ as One Who Fulfilled the Law
According to our great need that the law clearly demonstrated, God did something incredibly gracious. He sent Jesus Christ, who could be perfect in righteousness according to the ways of God. He made a way for us to trust him and be credited his righteousness—leading to eternal life.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21).
Through the necessary awareness of sin that God gave us through the law, he is able to demonstrate his further grace in Christ. In stark contrast to the capabilities of mere man stands Christ. The more we understand of the law, the more we see his capability and magnificence to fulfill it. Praise him! Grace could only come to us because Christ did not minimize one measure of the law, but instead met it in full.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
When Jesus taught that a person’s righteousness must surpass the scribes and Pharisees, that would have been shocking to his audience, who viewed the scribes and Pharisees as the spiritual elite. Ultimately, when he said that righteousness must exceed the Pharisees,’ he was speaking of himself, who alone could do this perfectly.
We Love the Law with Hearts of Flesh
Whereas Christ already had the law in his heart, we have to have it written into ours (Hebrews 8:10).[1] Ezekiel 11:19 foreshadowed what we experience through new life in Christ: “I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” The words above from Matthew 5 are followed by Christ’s teaching that hate is murder and lust is adultery. So, the law has not been demolished, but revealed to be all about one’s heart. Those who have hearts of flesh by faith through grace can love the law and have the law written there to stay.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (Galatians 3:21-26)
God’s requirement of holiness for mankind has never changed from the beginning of time. But we changed; we sinned. Justly, God continued to require his “end of the deal,” that his righteous requirements be truly fulfilled. Grace, that is, being out from under the law of the OT, means that now, we are under the Christ who perfectly fulfilled the law—the one who gives the Holy Spirit to help us obey the law from the heart. Our faith in this Christ produces the desire to know the law of the Lord—to know his righteous ways and to see every possible fulfillment of his righteous ways in our hearts.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)
Grace leads us right back to the law through a different perspective. We can say, “Wretched I am,” “I am forgiven by grace through faith in Christ,” and “I long that God’s righteous requirements be fulfilled in me,” all in one breath.
His grace will always bring us to love the law that Christ embodied. When under grace, Christians are not only free from the law and from the sin that the law increased for those with sinful natures. More, we are freed to the law.
Through grace in Christ, we are freed to return to the law with the knowledge that the burden of it is not ours, but that the grace of finding the freedom of righteousness out of love for him is. How good to have such a God whose justice never sacrifices the righteousness that is our freedom, and whose fulfillment of the law enables us to pursue that righteousness while already having complete peace with him. What a Savior!
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
[1] Pink, A. W. The Sovereignty of God. (Blacksburg, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2008), 151.
This post was originally published at Unlocking the Bible.
A Good Relationship with the Future
On moving day, I mostly reclined, having been barred from packing heavy items, lifting boxes or furniture, and reaching to hang pictures or put items in tall cabinets. This was a benefit of making the move late in the third trimester of pregnancy. Watching, I thought to myself, This is it—this is my future.
But those words were starting to have less and less of their desired affect on me, and I knew it.
After all, we had lived in three different homes within two years, and I had said the same thing to myself about each one. From my sitting perch, I was directing the placement of pieces of furniture, rugs, plates, and pictures. I could direct the future as well as my very pregnant self could have, say, lifted the piano into the foyer. But that did not keep me from making claims on permanency, despite every move doing more to dampen my attempts at accomplishing it.
I had left behind visions for a lasting home. I could not think too much about those past homes, with their failed hopes of staying, without cringing. The start of a new one had me wondering if its claims toward permanency would eventually fade, too.
Fearfully Grasping an Uncertain Future
Daniel in the Bible knew something about a lack of permanency after being exiled from his home country at a fairly young age, when it was conquered by the king of Babylon. Daniel’s relationship with the future was on display when the king, Nebuchadnezzar, wanted the “wise men” of Babylon to interpret a dream that was especially troubling to him (Daniel 2:1-16).
This was a standard request in that day, especially for a culture that believed their gods spoke through dreams.1But this young king had a unique request: that these men first tell him, supernaturally, the dream itself. If they could not speak of this secret knowledge, he would kill them all. By “kill them all,” he did not mean only those who had been given an opportunity to speak with him—he meant allthe wise men of Babylon. This included God’s faithful servant, Daniel.
Of course, the men could not do as the king requested, failing to interpret his dream. Daniel was not included in this initial group.
The young king may have desired to prove himself tough enough for the job, or to prove his men loyal. Yet, he was likely troubled because he feared for his uncertain future, as implied in his dream. In Nebuchadnezzar’s worldview, a troubling dream meant fearing for his security. He took this as reason to set aside all prudence with the sole purpose of understanding its meaning. To him, his health, wealth, and kingdom—all that secured his future—was subject to the untethered whims and impulses of the gods.
So, right as the blood was about to be shed and the guards made their way to Daniel, he asked a question to understand:
Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. (Daniel 2:14)
Nebuchadnezzar serves as a good foil for Daniel. After all, Daniel was confronted with his own dire circumstance because of the king. What did Daniel do when the guards came to him with the order to kill? He asked a question. Then, he made a request for time.
Because of his careful efforts, he was given the opportunity to demonstrate that his God had control over all things—past, present, and future. The first actions he took when facing his impending death were deliberate, calm, prudent, and discerning. Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, his priority was not to do whatever was necessary to secure the status of his future in this world. He took the matter carefully into account, including his standing with the king that allowed him to make the request for time, along with the king’s unwieldy temper that required his calm planning. Daniel faithfully based his actions upon those calculations. When he was about to be killed, he demonstrated a good relationship with his future—whatever his future on earth might be.
Prudently Evaluating a God-Ordained Future
Sitting in my home months after our move, and looking around at the furniture and hangings on the wall, I have the impression of what I want. We are settled into every corner of this place. My nine-month-old baby is playing with her things, which means picking up each toy for a brief examination and then tossing it behind her—one toy after the other. That is the message I have had for my things; they have all been tossed around over the past months, moved in and out, in and out. Perhaps this is actually a message they tell about my claims on staying. Either way, they speak far more to me about uncertainty than about being settled.
Perhaps this was one benefit for Daniel of having been exiled: not believing his permanency to be dependent upon his location. I want a good relationship with my future, too—to resemble Daniel’s calm in uncertainty, as opposed to Nebuchadnezzar’s recklessness. Daniel knew both that the future was to be wisely evaluated and, simultaneously, that it was not his to determine.
Daniel’s perspective about the future allowed him to use prudence in three ways:
Daniel used prudence to plan:“The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving” (Proverbs 14:8).
Daniel used prudence in being cautious:“The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it” (Proverbs 27:12).
Daniel used prudence to weigh and discern:“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps” (Proverbs 14:15).
Daniel, however, could only be planning, cautious, and discerning because of the God of providence. Of any foil in this story, the gods of Nebuchadnezzar best juxtapose the one true God. These non-existent gods could not reveal Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, nor did they inspire in Nebuchadnezzar any calm or care. But the one true God is sovereign and all-knowing, inspiring prudence and praise. When God reveals the dream, Daniel worships:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might…
…he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter. (Daniel 2:20, 22-23)
Our furniture, rugs, plates, and pictures fit so well in this home, but the question of staying is for God alone to answer. Were I to answer it, I would be like the imprudent Nebuchadnezzar, looking to the gods on their perches for understanding. I would be the false gods, too, reacting to my future through untethered whims and impulses.
Rather, Daniel’s God is our God. He has worked all things together for our salvation by providentially arranging the workings of the world to accomplish it:
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:22-23)
Furthermore, he has providentially called us to himself for all eternity:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
If the transience of life feels counter to the solid circumstances you desire, remember that the gospel secures an eternal future with all permanency and staying-power. This permanency is ours as solidly as Christ defeated sin and death; ours as surely as he is in the heavenly places now; and ours as permanently as Christ’s victory is everlasting. Fittingly, “prudence” is an alteration of the word “providence.” For the praiseworthy providence of God demonstrated in the gospel is the prudent person’s most important calculation of all.
1. Rhodes, Ron. 40 Days Through Daniel. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2016.
This post was originally published at Unlocking the Bible.