When You’re Asked to Do the Impossible — Part 4

Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. I'm so glad you're here. Today we're going to continue our series called Unshakable. Rick is taking us through the book of Daniel. And that's so we'll be equipped to handle whatever curveball life throws at us, even the most difficult trials. All right, here's Rick. He's got the final part of a message called when you're asked to do.

The impossible in Daniel 2. 24, it says this. Then after he finished praying, gets up the next morning, Daniel rushed to see Arioch, the captain of the guard, palace guard, who had been ordered to execute all the king's advisors. And I imagine him running into the palace and saying, Daniel said, call off the execution. I mean, can't you just see this? He runs in a call off the. I got it. I got it last night. I'm praying. I was up all night. Got. God not only told me what the dream is, but told me the meaning of it. Give me to the king. I know how to do this. I got this. Call off the execution. Can you see how Daniel's life would make an incredible movie? I mean, just this one scene. This is just one of nine tests in his life. I don't know why Hollywood has never. They may always make Noah and Moses and Abraham and David and Jesus. Nobody's ever made a movie on Daniel. This guy, it's filled with intrigue. You see him running into the palace, goes, call off the execution. Last minute saving. Okay, halt it. Halt it all. I got it. I got the dream. I know what. It's all right. God is not just interested in saving you. He wants to save others too. This is called witnessing. He wants everybody saved. He wants everybody knowing him. He wants everybody to know his purpose for. And as long as there's one person who doesn't know Christ, we're gonna keep reaching out. Because God says, I want you to use what God shows you to save others. I pray this prayer every week. I prayed it this morning. God, show me what will save some of you. Save them from disaster, save em from problems, Save em from defeat, save em from conflict. Save em from God. Show me something to save others. God wants to show you stuff, not just for your benefit, but so you can save other people. That's your witness. That's your mission in the world. Now he runs into the palace, and here's how the story continues. Verse 25. So then Arioch rushed Daniel to the king and he said, king, I have found one of the cap. He didn't find him, he's claiming credit. Arioch didn't. Daniel found him. He's buttering up the king. I have found one of the captives From Judah, the POWs who can tell you your dream and the meaning of it. And the king looks at this 17 year old Jewish kid and goes, is it true? I mean, can you do this? Are you putting me on? You pulling my leg? Can you tell me my dream that nobody else could do it? And also what it means? There's a reason to be skeptical here. Can you do this? All right, now, Daniel's reply to the king's question gives us the eighth step. And I want you to write this down. When you're in a crisis and you're praying and you're asking God to give you supernatural help, when you get the answer, you point people to God. Point people to God. Don't take the credit for yourself because you didn't think up the solution. Don't. God gave it to you. And so God says, okay, I'm gonna give you the solution. I wanna get the credit for it. I want the glory to go to me, not to you. And this is exactly what Daniel does. He gives God all the credit. And so here's what Daniel says to the most powerful man in the world at that time, the king of the Babylonian Empire, verse 27. Daniel replied, okay, King, no wise man, no psychic, no fortune teller, no astrologer could possibly explain the mystery of your dream. So what I'm about to tell you isn't coming from man. I didn't think it up. They couldn't think it up. It was given to me by God. He said, no man could solve this impossible problem. You've given. But the next line is, I think one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. And it says this. But there is a God in heaven. I am so grateful for that verse. There is a God in heaven. Things may be falling apart in your life. There is a God in heaven. Your dream may be on the skids, but there is a God in heaven. You may be up to your eyeballs and alligators, but there is a God in heaven. You may be going down for the last time and the weeds are pulling you down and you're in deep guacamole, but there is a God in heaven. And that is what gives the world hope. Because God can do what none of us can do. None of these people could solve your problem, King, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. And he has chosen to show you Nebuchadnezzar what's gonna happen in the future? I don't know why, but he's chosen to show you what's gonna happen in the future. And now God has revealed this mystery to me. Not because I'm cool or I'm any better than anybody else, he says, not because I'm smarter than, than everybody else. Cause he said I'm not. I'm a 17 year old prisoner of war being trained by you to be an advisor. God has revealed this mystery to me. Not because I'm smarter, but for your benefit. King, you can say this to your boss so that you, O King, may understand. God is not interested in just Daniel. He's interested in Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king. What a bold witness this kid has done here. And at 17 years old, he doesn't take the credit. Now I don't know about you, but if I'd been 17 and all of a sudden I got the answer that's gonna save hundreds of lives and make the King really, really happy, I'd probably wanna take at least a little credit for it, I might say. You know, last night I was praying and God gave me the answer, but it's because I was praying and God gave the answer. But it's cause I was listening. And I would have liked to take the credit, at least a little bit of it for myself. But what does Daniel do? He points people to God. And if you'll do that, God will bless your life in ways you cannot possibly imagine. If you will always point the credit back to God. God can do great things through the person who. Who doesn't care who gets the credit. God can do great things through the person who says, I'm gonna point it back to God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. God used me. But it's all about God. It's not about you. You ever heard that line anywhere? It's not about you. It's all about God. What a bold witness. He points to God. This is true evangelism. The word evangelism simply means sharing good news. In Greek, evangel is good news. Evangelism is sharing good news. This is what it means for you to be an evangelist. You are to point people to God. You're in Starbucks. Point people to God. You're in the military, point people to God. You're on the work site, point people to God. You're with a bunch of mothers, of preschoolers. Point people to God. You're in the hospital, Point the staff to God. That's your cause. And if God gives you any degree of success in your life. God has given you that degree of success to give you a platform to point people to God. And I want to tell you from personal experience, the more you point people to God, the bigger God will build your platform. The more you point people to God, the more God will build your platform and you will have influence you never thought possible. Now, these are the eight things he did. Now he shares the vision or the dream. I don't have time to really go into this, so let me summarize the next 16 or so verses. Daniel says, okay, King, I got this. God gave it to me. And so first let me tell you your dream. He said, in your dream, you saw a giant statue of a man. And it was very frightening. And the head was made out of gold and the upper body was made out of silver. And the midpoint, the belly and the torso, thighs, was made out of bronze. And the feet of the legs of the statue were made out of iron, and the feet were made out of clay mixed with iron. Nebuchadnezzar goes, you got it right, buddy. That's exactly right. He said, but that's not all you dreamed. He said, then in your dream, you saw this giant rock, this giant boulder cut from a mountain by supernatural means. And all of a sudden, it is hurled at that statue, and it hits the feet that are iron and clay mixed together, and it shatters the feet and the whole statue form falls over. And Nebuchadnezzar. You got that right, man. This is amazing. You're telling me my dream. And he said. And he said, and then when the statue falls over, it breaks into smithereens into a thousand pieces, and the wind comes along and blows it all away. And he said, now then that rock that was there, that knocked the statue down, becomes a great mountain. And that mountain covers the whole earth. Nebuchadnezzar goes, kid, you nailed it. That's my dream. This happened 2,500 years ago. King Nebuchadnezzar, you nailed it. He goes, okay, now I'm gonna tell you the meaning of it. God was showing you the future of the world, and he was showing you the empires that are gonna come after you. He said, you know, the gold head? He goes, that's you. That's the Babylonian empire. It's a big empire, most powerful in the nation at this time. And he said, the one that's gonna come after you is the silver. That's the Persian empire, the Medes and the Persian Medo. Persian empire. But it's not gonna be as silver isn't as good as gold, so it's not gonna be as strong as your empire was. And he said, then after that he said, then you're gonna have the Bronze. And he goes, this is the third empire he's talking about Alexander the Great and the in the Greek Empire. He's predicting it hundreds of years in advance. And then he said, but that one's gonna be then replaced by the Iron Empire. And iron is the strongest of all. That's the Roman Empire. He goes, it's gonna be bigger than all the ones, including yours. And then he said, but then the feet are iron and clay mixed together. And he said that's because that empire's gonna eventually start crumbling like the Roman Empire did, because clay and iron don't mix together. And some parts of the kingdom be very strong like iron and some parts will be very weak like clay and they don't mix and match. And that king empire's gonna fall apart too. But he said, here's the big key. That rock that turns into a mountain, that covers the whole earth, that's the ultimate empire. That's God's empire. That's called the kingdom of God. And one day God is gonna establish his kingdom. And all the man made empires of the world are gonna crash and burn and crumble and blow off like dust. And it is only God's kingdom that will never be destroyed. That is gonna cover everything and nobody's gonna conquer it and it's gonna last forever. And that's how history is going to end. And God has chosen to let you know that. Wow, what a witness. He said, nothing's gonna keep this from happening. Now. What is Nebuchadnezzar's response to Daniel when he gives him the dream? And the interpretation? Here's how the story ends. Verse 46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground before Daniel. This is the king, most powerful man in the world bowing before a 17 year old teenager, bows to the ground before Daniel and worshiped him. Got that one wrong. Daniel wasn't God. And he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. So he still doesn't get it. I mean he's still a pagan God king, but he does get some right. And then he says, then the king said to Daniel, truly your God is the God of gods. He's the real deal. He's the real deal. All these other fake phony gods. Your God is the God of gods, the Lord over kings, including me. He is a revealer of Mysteries. Obviously he told you. Cause you could have never figured out my dream on your own. For you have been able to reveal this secret. That's quite a testimony from a pagan king who's getting honored here. God's getting honored, you know, Okay, I don't know how you did it, but your God's the real deal. He's the true God. He's the God, and this king needs to honor him. Then Nebuchadnezzar gives Daniel a greater position. He gives him a promotion and he gives him all kinds of possessions. And here's how the story ends. Then. The king promoted Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. Now he made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon. Are you kidding me? This kid's 17 years and he's the mayor of Babylon? What's going on here? This is called a promotion. Every time you pass the test, God makes sure you get promoted. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as the chief over all his wise men. You know, all those fakes and phony psychics. You're now in charge of them. I'm sure. Daniel's going, thanks, but no thanks. But he's now chief over all the advisors. He's 17 years old. Now. Daniel's humble. He's thinking about his friends. And at Daniel's request, the king also appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you know, the three Musketeers, to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon while Daniel remained in the king's court. Do you see Lightweight? This would make an incredible movie. This is just one of nine incidents. You do not wanna miss any in this series. Cause there's lessons for you. He's given a reward and greater responsibility. He's given prizes and a greater position. But he doesn't forget his friends. He brings them all along. So let me close with this. What is it that seems impossible in your life right now? What's the thing that's got you panicked? What is it that God caused you to stay awake at night? Debt? You're out of work? When am I gonna get married? When am I gonna have a baby? When am I gonna see my dream come true? When am I gonna get out of school? When, when, when all these impossible problems are piling up against you? This is never gonna work out. My marriage is never gonna get any better. It's just not. Really? Really? Have you stayed up all night and prayed about it? What is it that seems impossible in your life? I got this big deal coming up, and it's such an opportunity. It's a giant contract. If I could close this sale, it would be clear snailing for the next year, but it's impossible for me to get it done in time. Have you asked God to help you out and expected him to help you out and trusted him to help you out? I'm a mother of preschoolers. I got little ones all around my feet all day, and I'm just. The work never ends. And if you're a mother preschooler, you haven't slept in six years. And I've got so much to do, and I'm overwhelmed and I don't even know how it's impossible to meet everybody's needs and take care of these kids. You need to do the eight things Daniel did. Let's bow our heads. Would you say, dear God, just say in your mind, I know that nobody knows the future except you. So I'm telling you right now, I'm finished. I'm done with looking for other people to show me the future. No more clairvoyance, no more astrology, no more horoscopes, no more tea leaves or Ouija boards or mediums or any of the other stuff that's out there. It's just all fake and fraud. And they don't know the future. You only know it. And, Lord, you know not only the problem I'm facing right now, but you know, the big one that's coming up this week, and I don't know it. And you know, the even bigger one that's coming up next month, and, you know, the real big one that's gonna come up in a year or so. So I'm not gonna panic, because although I don't know it, you do. And like Daniel, I'm not gonna be afraid. And when I face the problem, help me to get the facts, to learn all I can about the problem. If my boss is putting pressure on me, help me to figure out his motivation or her motivation to ask why there's so much fury. And then, Lord, help me to do what Daniel did, to ask for some time to consider the solution so I can spend time talking to you. And then, Lord, help me to enlist prayer support from my friends. I commit today to building a prayer team of four or five guys, if you're a guy, four or five gals, if you're a gal that they know. I will pray for them, and I can count on them to pray for me when I need it. I'm gonna build that prayer support team today. From my small group. I'm gonna get in that small group. And then, Lord, when the problems come that seem to overwhelm me, help me to pray and to expect you to give supernatural help that I don't have. You said, call to me and I'll answer you. You said you'll show me things I could never figure out on my own. Like, Daniel, I'm sorry, I have not had because I have not asked. I need wisdom and I'm asking you and I'm expecting you to give it to me. And Lord, help me to get my eyes off the problem that I'm facing right now and get my problem focused on you. I wanna worship you. I wanna praise you for who you are. You're loving, you're kind, you're gracious, you know everything. You made me for a purpose and I wanna honor you for what you've done and what you do. You help, you answer prayers, you encourage, you support you comfort. And Lord, I want to thank you for all the times you've helped me in the past in gratitude. And I want to thank you in faith for all the times you're going to help me this week when I go back to work or school or wherever. Lord, whatever you show me, I wanna use to save others. I don't wanna just save myself, just my family. Help me to point people to God at the workplace. Help me to point people to God in the marketplace. Help me to point people to God on the soccer field, at the Starbucks, in the grocery store. Because, Lord, I know that if you see me caring about others, you just want to build that platform in my life even more. So use me to save others. Jesus Christ, I ask you to save me not just from sin, not just from hell, but I ask you to save me from, to be who you made me to be. Save me from myself. Save me from my habits, Save me from my hangups and my hurts. And I pray this in the name that is above every other name, your name, Jesus. I pray this in your name, humbly. Amen. Foreign.

Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email rickastorick.com we'll send you free tools to help start your relationship with Jesus. You know, as we look at the unprecedented things going on in our world today, it is so clear that we need to be equipped with the biblical wisdom that gives us power to handle whatever life throws at us. So that's why Pastor Rick created a life changing Bible study called unshakeable and it's based on the Book of Daniel. In these eight powerful video lessons, Rick will teach you how to handle life's most difficult trials and situations and how to thrive under extreme pressure how to pray the kind of prayers that God answers and this video study includes a workbook. It's perfect for individual or small group Bible study. Please request your copy today. When you give a gift to help Daily Hope take the Word of God to people around the world, you just go to pastorrick.com to get your copy. That's pastorrick.com or just text the word hope to 70309 again the word hope to 70309 and thanks so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope means so much to us because it helps us share the hope of Jesus Christ to people all around the world. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's Word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.