Who He Says I Am

February 19, 2020

…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Daniel 11:32 NKJV

I got a most wonderful Christmas present a few years ago. My daughter is a great gift-giver and had filed away a little piece of information I had mentioned once. There were two big Bible story books my parents read to us as little ones. One had long disappeared in a move, but I treasured the tattered one I had. They were divided into Old and New Testament stories, and told them all, even the ones generally rated at least PG for kids. The illustrations were beautiful, the writing captivating, and the pages fascinating in themselves. The paper was high quality and worn from much use into almost a cottony feel. She asked me why I didn’t buy new ones. I told her they were old when we got them; Dad found them at a used bookstore, and they were now out of print. Don’t you know she found those books? That Christmas I got used but great condition copies, printed in the early 1900s.

The book of Daniel is fascinating. It’s the story of the same guy we know from Daniel in the lion’s den. Some of the Bible stories that made me beg, “Read it again! One more time!” are in there. The mysterious writing on the wall before Belshazzar was defeated, the three boys in the furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar who disobeyed and ended up spending years living like an animal on his hands and knees and then got his throne back again—I loved and love it. The last part of the book of Daniel is not as familiar. It records prophecies about the end times and major world events in visions. Angels help him understand it. In chapter 11, the vision is about the time of the Antichrist, typically understood to be a period of intense persecution and evil. It is in the middle of that prophecy when the angel tells Daniel that Satan will do his worst but will not overcome the people of God because “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Amazing! In the most hellish of times, people who know their God are strong! They are confident! They not only resist evil, but they are on the offensive—they do great exploits!

That can be you and me. As Christ-followers, who know our God can handle life with that kind of confidence in the worst days the world will ever know, what kind of confidence should we manifest now? The power of the resurrected Christ in us is so much more than for us to be “getting by” or “hanging in there.” His power can give us the confidence to be strong and amaze ourselves and others with our own exploits.

Dare to be a Daniel. Have confidence.

• Mighty God, today I offer myself as a confident warrior for You. Help me not cower in difficulty but to stand tall in Your power, and make my life a positive adventure. Amen.