September 18 - Daniel 10-12: Relax

Daniel's apocalyptic visions are cryptic, mysterious, and beyond my understanding. A vision of a big war, Michael the angel-prince, kings battling for power.  There is imagery here that is also in Revelations and it has been studied for centuries.  A part of me that loves to solve puzzles and riddles, wants to dive into this and figure out the symbolism and be able to explain it to myself and others in a way that is comprehendable.  But, there is no simple explanation, no clear story. Daniel was also perplexed by these visions,

This is a confidential report, Daniel, for your eyes and ears only. Keep it secret.  Put the book under lock and key until the end...

As I, Daniel, took all this in, ... I heard all this plain enough, but I didn't understand it.  So I asked, 'Master, can you explain this to me?'

'Go on about your business, Daniel,' he said.  'The message is confidential and under lock and key until the end, until things are about to be wrapped up.' (12:4-5, 9)

It's a secret, locked up until a later time.  A time known only to God.  Then, why did He put it into His love letter to us?  Why not keep it to Himself, since we weren't going to understand it anyway?

"The four visions of God's history-saving ways nourish hope in God during times when world events seem to put God in eclipse.  The visions are difficult to understand, written as they are in a deliberately cryptic style (apolocalyptic).  From time to time they hve been subjected to intense study and explanation.  But for a first reading, perhaps it is better simply to let the strange symbolic figures give witness to the large historical truth that eclipses the daily accumulation of historical facts reported by our news media, namely, that God is sovereign."  (Eugene Peterson, Intro. to Daniel)

Once again, we run into this truth headlong: He is sovereign. It must be critically important to God's love story with us.   Sovereignty is a big word that I don't completely understand, although I use it a lot.  In my simple understanding, it means that He is in control (and I am not), that He is working all things for His glory and for good, and that no one and no situation escapes Him.  If I really think about what that means in my daily life, it's mostly just mental assentation.  Yes, I believe God is sovereign, so I can view my life circumstances and the world's troubles through the lens that He is in the midst of them.  But, so what?
God gives Daniel the "so what".  He expresses His great love to Daniel at the end of the troubling visions by letting Daniel know that the next step is not a mystery.  In His abundant love, He removes the heaviness and the burden of all that He has revealed to Daniel.

Go about your business without fretting or worrying.  Relax. (12:13)

These comforting words are unexpected at the end of such weighty revelations.  I expected a great charge or commission.  Instead, God tells Daniel to relax.  Rest in His sovereignty.  Trust that He is bringing "all things and all people under His rule" (Peterson).  If I really believe that this is Truth, then I also must quit worrying and relax.

"But do you know where constant worry comes from?  It's rooted in an arrogance that assumes, I know the way my life has to go, and God's not getting it right.  Real humility means to relax.  Real humility means to laugh at yourself.  Real humility means to be self-critical.  The cross brings that kind of humility into our lives." (Keller, King's Cross)

As we end this book of stories and visions, are you seeing God's sovereignty differently?  How is His sovereignty impacting your daily life, your anxieties, your attempts to control?  Are you hearing His call to relax?