~Dream Weaver~

As you approach the King's throne, a swarm of whispers fills the room,

   "Who does she think she is?" "She'll never be able to do it." 

Striding steadily forward, and struggling with your own self-doubts, you wonder, "Will all these gawking eyes witness an execution or a miracle today?"

   While these thoughts took place in your imagination, a similar situation occurred in Daniel's reality. He stood face-to-face with an unpredictable despot, King Nebuchadnezzar, who had murdered many of Daniel's family and friends during their exile to Babylon. Now Daniel's own life was in danger (along with all the other scholars and key advisers of the nation) unless someone-anyone-could interpret the king's strange dream. Daniel's life depended upon being able to do what no one had been able to do-not even the king's "wise-men."

   Talk about stress. Daniel faced a seemingly impossible and dangerous circumstance requiring the utmost wisdom and bravery. Not only had he been exiled to Babylon (modern-day Baghdad), but now he faced an even more pressing drama. 

   How did Daniel handle this super-dramatic, high-stress situation? He coped with it by cultivating a close relationship with God and depending on God for wisdom and power (Daniel 2:20-23). When the drama heated up, when asked if he could interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel did not talk himself up. He humbly responded, "No [one] can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries" (Daniel 2:27-28). Daniel invited God into his drama.

   In the course of our lives, we're sometimes called to deal with stressful or uncomfortable situations. You may work as the only female/male in your church's leadership;you may care for your aging in-laws, who have never thought you were good enough for their son/daughter. No matter what the situation, the best way to handle it with grace and wisdom is to invite God to direct the circumstance. Let him weave your way through with his wisdom. Lean on his strength. Rely on his insights. You may not feel like you can handle stress but with God's help, you can. 

-Women's Devotional Bible

[Genesis 41:15-16]

15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

[Esther 3:12-15]

12 So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 

13 Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

14 A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.  

15 At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

[Esther 5:1-3]

1 On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance.  

2 When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

3 Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

[Daniel 2:1-24]

1 One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep.  

2 He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king,  

3 he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”

4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

5 But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! 

6 But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”

7 They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

8 The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say,  

9 ‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”

10 The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer! 11 The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.”

12 The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed.  

13 And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.

14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. 

15 He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened.  

16 Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.

17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.  

19 That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.  

20 He said,

“Praise the name of God forever and ever,

for he has all wisdom and power.

21 He controls the course of world events;

he removes kings and sets up other kings.

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to the scholars.

22 He reveals deep and mysterious things

and knows what lies hidden in darkness,

though he is surrounded by light.

23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors,

for you have given me wisdom and strength.

You have told me what we asked of you

and revealed to us what the king demanded.”

24 Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”