WHEN LIFE BECOMES A NIGHTMARE
Daniel 2
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and
sensations that occur usually involuntarily in our mind
during certain stages of sleep.
Dreams happen most often in the (REM) rapid-eye movement
stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of
being awake. It is during this stage where dreams are most
vivid and detailed.
You also are more likely to remember a dream if you are
awakened during the REM phase.
The average person has three to five dreams per night, and some
may have up to seven; however, most dreams are
immediately or quickly forgotten.
The length of a dream can vary from a few seconds, to 20–30
minutes.
How many of you can still remember at least one dream you
have had in your life?
I remember as a small child having one dream over and over
and over again!
It was so real - it was just like life -and like life can be it
became a nightmare. I had a recurring, fear gripping
experience which I did not fully understand, comprehend or
even know what to do.
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When I was a small boy we lived in an old two story stucco
house. My sister and I had bedrooms upstairs. And in my
dream our family was under attack from guerrillas.
That is right guerrillas!
And in my dream I would go to the windows in the
upstairs and I would push away the ladders that the
guerrillas were using to try to enter the house.
And these guerrillas were trying to kill us.
In variably as I ran from window to window - - I could never
keep all of the guerrillas out. That was one crazy nightmare
that seemed so real!
Now during those days - the news media often commented
on guerrilla warfare - and somehow as a small child I got the
idea that countries were using guerrillas to do battle and
somehow I thought they were going to attack our home in
Morris, Illinois.
We are in Daniel chapter 2 - - - and we are going to look at
dream that shook up King Nebuchadnezzar.
Now his dream was not about guerrillas.
In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees a large statue and its
head was made of pure gold, and its chest and arms were
made of silver, and its belly and thighs were bronze, and its
legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly baked
clay.
And in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream a stone not cut by
hands struck the image on its feet and smashed them, and
the clay, iron, bronze, silver and gold shattered and were
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swept away by the wind, while the stone became a great
mountain filling the whole Earth.
Now he lost sleep over that dream!
He didn’t know what it meant. So being the king - he had
people in his life to do everything he wanted.
So he asked some of the wisest people in His kingdom not
only the interpretation of the dream but the dream itself.
Can you imagine having someone demand that you tell them
what they dreamed last night, and then interpret it?
Imagine if the reward for failure is your death sentence.
Your life just became a nightmare.
For Daniel, this nightmare was a reality and there are some things
we need to learn from him as we look at . . .
When Life Becomes A Nightmare
Now King Nebuchadnezzar’s astrologers and wise men
responded to the king this way:
“There is no one on earth who can do what the king
asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever
asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or
astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one
can reveal it to the king except the gods and they do not
live among humans.”
Daniel 2:10b-11
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Read Daniel 2:12-49
So King Nebuchadnezzar in his great patience and
understanding issued a decree to put all of the wise men in
Babylon to death.
If you were Daniel, what would you do?
When Life Becomes A Nightmare
For many of us . . .
• We try to rely on your wisdom, emotional intelligence and
resources. (2:2-13)
When we get ourselves into trouble, or life becomes difficult or
even worse it is a nightmare - many people rely on their common
sense, their wisdom, their emotional intelligence, the network of
people around them.
Some times people throw money at a problem or difficulty
We have the tendency when we are faced with unbelievable
difficulties - to try to take care of it ourselves.
The wisest people in Babylon had made a life out of interpreting
dreams- - - but on this day - the King refused to share with them
what he had dreamed.
Now whether the king had forgotten his dream or simply
recognized that the wise men could make something up and that
they could not be trusted - - - he demanded they tell him the
dream.
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It was about this time that the wisest people of the
Babylonian empire were realizing they did not have the
wisdom, intelligence or resources to do as they had been
asked by King Nebuchadnezzar.
Life sooner or later will bring most of us to the same place.
There are times when becomes a nightmare.
It just takes one phone call.
One’s doctor’s visit.
Just one hour of a day.
Let us just think about Daniel for a moment.
Daniel could have used his wisdom. He was ten
times wiser than the wisest of Babylon.
He could have used his power. After all he was in
the king’s service (1:19, 2:23)
Maybe He could have used his influence and called
in a few favors or twisted a few arms.
But even Daniel found himself in King Nebuchadnezzar’s
nightmare! And it was real! And it was not going to go
away!
When life become a nightmare we have tendency to want to use
our wisdom, our common sense, our emotional intelligence and
our resources.
Now don’t miss what Daniel does next.
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Nebuchadnezzar’s commander of the guard - really his
executioner - - is going out and looking for the wise men of
Babylon to kill.
So what does Daniel do? Does he run? Complain?
No! He speaks with wisdom and tact - - - and he asks this
executioner:
“Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?
And then Daniel went to see the king and asked him for times that
he might interpret the dream for him.
Here is what Daniel is modeling for us when life become s
nightmare.
• Don’t panic! Let me say that again - - - Don’t panic!
Rather, seek to understand what is taking place and what
needs to be accomplished. (2:14-16)
Daniel had a quiet confidence in God! He believed that God was
sovereign and that Daniel played a part/ a role in what he was
looking to do in Babylon.
If your life has become like a nightmare - - you have probably
more than once wanted to panic!
Step back - - ask yourself what is taking place! What is going on?
Now what Daniel does next is so key for us when life becomes a
nightmare.
Rather than panicking . . .
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• (Daniel) Seek(s) God and, (if possible,) he includes others
as together (you) they seek His mercy and grace. (2:17-18)
Daniel has just gone to the king and asked for time to
interpret the dream - so what is the king expecting from
Daniel - to tell him the dream and interpret it.
Daniel’s life was a nightmare!
If Daniel and his friends were going to survive the day, God was
going to have to tell them the dream and its interpretation.
But Daniel did not let this crisis rob him of his spiritual
support and strength.
Daniel responded to the drama in his life with prayer.
If you haven’t learned yet - - - you will —Difficulties are often the
means by which God prompts us to connect with Him.
There is nothing like your life becoming a nightmare to get you on
your knees and talking to God!!
Listen - confess your need of God early.
Remember any time is the right time to pray.
Don’t treat prayer as a thing to do rather it is a life to be
lived.
So they prayed . . . and that night the Bible says that in a vision
the dream and its interpretation was given to him by God!
Daniel did not rely on his own wisdom, resources or common
sense.
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Instead he relied on God’s wisdom! There is a difference
between godly wisdom and the wisdom and knowledge that so
many people today have at their disposal.
When Life Becomes A Nightmare . . .
• Rely on God’s wisdom. (2:17-19)
The source of true wisdom is God.
Only His wisdom can reveal the mysteries of life.
He reveals deep and hidden things, he knows what lies in
the darkness.
Wisdom is not a principle or a concept to be learned but it is
a relationship to be enjoyed between God and His people.
Daniel’s wisdom to interpret the dream and know what it
was did not come from what he learned in Babylon.
Instead it came from conversation (prayer) -by doing life
with God Himself.
The ability to describe someone else’s dreams can only
come from a divine source.
Does anyone need godly wisdom today?
Now what Daniel does next - is absolutely amazing.
He begins to praise God! Then Daniel praised the God of
Heaven and said: Praise be the name of God for ever and
ever, wisdom and power are His!
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When Life Becomes A Nightmare
• Recognize the power and presence of God.
Before Daniel ever went to King Nebuchadnezzar he praised
God! Because God had revealed Himself to Daniel and had
provided Him what he needed.
Where was God in the midst of the nightmare?
He was with Daniel and his friends.
Even though their lives were far from what they were
hoping for - - - God was with them in the nightmare!
• Don’t rush from a solution God has provided to the next
thing on your list. Instead, stop and praise Him. (2:19-23)
You might think, “Well who wouldn’t praise God after He
revealed both the dream and its interpretation?”
We certainly praised God don’t when the nightmare is over and
God has been with us! He heard our prayers!
But Daniel was still facing a serious situation. He now knew
what the king’s dream meant and it was not good news.
(2:39-45)
You see, Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold: he has been given
dominion by God. His power and authority and the greatest of his
kingdom is not because of him. (Daniel tells the king in verse 36
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that it is the God of heaven who has given him dominion and
power and might and glory.)
In fact, look at verse 39 - - - Daniel in giving the king the
interpretation says: “After you, another kingdom will rise . . .”
After him another kingdom who will arise, inferior to his, and it in
turn will be followed by another kingdom one of bronze which will
rule over the whole earth. Then a fourth kingdom of iron will
come, but it will be a divided, partly strong like iron and partly
brittle like clay.
In that time God will set up a final kingdom, the rock not cut by
human hands, which will smash all the others.
Don’t you think that the king could have just as easily killed Daniel
as he gave him the bad news - - - that he had a shelf life and that
his kingdom ands its power and authority only came from God!
Can you praise God when the task you are given is difficult?
Can you praise God when even after hearing from God you
are not guaranteed a certain outcome?
Most of us the only time we want to praise God is when
everything is going our way!
When we are not in the midst of a nightmare in our life.
• While Daniel did not know what the future held, he saw
God’s care for him in the present.
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• He could also remember God’s goodness in the past!
• And he recognized that the dream that God had revealed to
him contained a future filled with hope and promise.
Don’t miss this . . .
The dream and its interpretation - - meant that Daniel and his
friends should not expect an immediate removal from their
circumstance or situation.
Listen, trials and difficulties do not always disappear simply
because we praise God!
Trials and difficulties do not always disappear because we
pray and pray and pray again!
One more thing we need to see in this passage . . .
• Recognize that God can use you to communicate His truth
to others. (2:26 -45)
Daniel could have come to the king and failed to mention that it
was God who had revealed the dream and its interpretation!
But Daniel put the focus where it belonged once he entered
the king’s presence; not himself but on God. (2:28)
Daniel proclaimed the greatness of God and refused to take
credit for what God had done and as a result King
Nebuchadnezzar was beginning to see God as the God of
gods and the Lord of Kings and a revealer of mysteries.
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Could it be that the nightmare you are living with right now - - is one in which you need to quit relying on your wisdom
and ability?
Could it be that you need to gather a friend or two or simply
seek out the Lord in prayer?
You have been panicking . . . and maybe God speaks and
acts and you never stopped to Praise Him!!
Listen God is looking for people in our culture today - who
will reveal Him for who He is!! He is the God of gods and the
Lord of kings. He is the revealer of mysteries!
Daniel and his three friends did not isolate themselves from the
kingdom of this world as they waited for God to establish His
kingdom. They poured themselves into seeking the
welfare of those living in Babylon.
And what happened to them . . . the king placed Daniel in a high
position - - -just like Joseph in Egypt. He was given many gifts
and made ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed in
charge of all its wise men.
Even Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were promoted!
When life turns into a nightmare, many trust in themselves
and fail to depend on God. But when we admit our need is
greater than what we can supply, we discover God’s
resources, wisdom and power is all we need.
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