One Step At A Time | Daniel 12:1-4

One Step At A Time | Daniel 12:1-4

TITLE: One Step At A Time

Introduction: I’m going to start with a question that I already know the answer to: Have you ever faced a situation that left you unsure how it was going to work out?

Paying bills but no money.

Being handed an important project and not knowing what you were doing.

Facing a health crises.

Trudging through a broken relationship.

Don’t you love it when someone says, “Hey, everything is going to work out!” with a big smile on their face…

You just want to say, “If you were dealing with this, you wouldn’t be smiling!”

No one likes platitudes. We want facts. Show me some evidence. Something concrete that things will work out.

Which makes me respect Daniel even more, because he didn’t have all the resources and history at his disposal like we do. He didn’t have people of faith around him to cheer him on. Yet his faith in God from the time he was a young man held fast. What he records in this text can help us when we face a situation that leaves us scratching our heads.

Daniel’s example gives us instructions on what to do when you don’t know how things are going to work out.

Last time we were in Daniel 12, we looked at the first three verses and saw that Israel had to prepare for four inevitabilities: Suffering, Deliverance, Resurrection, and Rewards.

And although the end of that sounds great, the next thing up for Israel was suffering. Darker days than they’d ever faced. So after God revealed what was next to Daniel…

He instructed Daniel to seal the book. (v. 4)

Daniel had all he was going to get. The revelation was done. So he’s told, “Seal the book to signify that it’s complete.”

It was customary back then to seal important documents. Kind of like a notary stamp. An official letter or decree would have been sealed with a ring or royal emblem dipped in wax and placed on the document. This meant that it was not be changed.

What it means practically is that the original document was duplicated or copied and then placed in a safe place. It did not mean that the document was inaccessible, otherwise how do we have it preserved? Sealing simply meant that it was unalterable. So Daniel was instructed in vs. 4 to preserve the whole book. All that he had written was to be preserved and unaltered. As a result, we have the privilege to read and study the book of Daniel.

If you question how important preservation is, let this be confirmation. God didn’t inspire Bible authors for those documents to simply float away. If He could supernaturally inspire the authors, He can continue to preserve what has been revealed.

Daniel 12:4 “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

It won’t be until history unfolds that Daniel and the Jews will understand these prophetic revelations. Everything Daniel wrote was future for him, but much of it is past for us, which means it makes more sense to us. We’ve been through the history of the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Roman Empire. And we can read these chapters with more understanding than Daniel had. We can make sense of it. The more history has unfolded, the more these details lock into place.

With Israel back in the Promised Land and a growing hatred toward the Jews, Daniel 12:1 starts to make sense. The time of trouble for Israel will be worse than anything they’ve ever seen. Even worse than the holocaust in the 1930’s.

Consider the antisemitism that has surfaced in our own country. If you don’t think this is all preparing us for the end, then you’re not taking this information seriously. That’s what Vs. 4 indicates when it says, “even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

The closer to the end we get, the more knowledge will increase and the more understanding we will have about what’s unfolding. We can look back and see the significance of much of what Daniel predicted. And in the time of the end, at the end of history, the words of this book that have been sealed and preserved will be understood by many who will seek to gain knowledge from it. Apparently, this book will be what helps those in that time of great tribulation to have confidence that God is still in control. The Jews can read what God has written and know that their suffering won’t last forever. God will ultimately deliver Israel from her enemies and keep His covenanted promises.

Vs. 4 - “Many shall run to and fro, knowledge shall be increased.” The Jews will turn to God’s Word as the terrible events of the future transpire. The only comfort they will find will be from God’s Word. Not from the internet. Not from the government. The only hope found in a time of desperation will be by wise people who look to God’s Word and find their confidence in what He has promised to do.

And even though we have much more knowledge than Daniel did, the ultimate fulfillment of these prophecies will be realized during the tribulation period. Daniel’s 70th week.

The wise Jews who seek the Lord in the time of Jacob’s trouble will find comfort in the words and promises of God.

And that’s true for us too. When we face difficulties, the wise person who seeks God will find comfort in His words and promises.

And that gets us excited. And it should. But there’s one element to it that we often miss that is clear in this text:

“God plans are revealed one step at a time.”

God was telling Daniel that His people wouldn’t get all the information they wanted right away. But as time went on, the Word would shed light on life one step at a time. This is how God works. God doesn’t work in leaps. He works in steps.

Illustration: Like driving at night. You have a destination in mind, but your headlights only reveal what’s directly in front of you.

That’s how the Lord reveals His plans:

He told Abraham, “Just go to Canaan, then I will reveal the rest.”

He led Israel as a pillar by night and cloud by day, meaning His leading changed every twelve hours.

He gave them Manna one day at a time.

He told us to pray for “daily bread,” not weekly or monthly.

He says His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, meaning He shines light on each step.

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.”

There are no data dumps with God. He works one step at a time. He says, “Take your steps and I’ll shine my light on your feet.

Our problem is we want to know how it all works out from now until the end.

We want every step from now until the end is accomplished.. But the problem with that is it is bypasses the requirement of faith. The unfolding process is part of God’s plan to grow us.

Faith means we follow because we trust the source of faith, not because we understand how it works out. God simply says “Step by step I will reveal my will through the light of my Word.”

And that’s hard. We have our way. Our plans. And we’d rather jump ahead to the ending. Or at least know how it’s all going to work out. But the Lord’s plan is one step at a time.

As much as we wish there was a Scrolling feature through the difficulties of life, God doesn’t offer that. You can’t just skip the parts you don’t like. In fact, much of our growth is dependent on us walking through the parts we like the least.

Here’s the truth I’m trying to convey: We don’t need immediate answers to trust the source of the answers.

In other words, God was telling Daniel that His people wouldn’t get all the information they wanted right away. But as time went on, the Word would shed light on life one step at a time.

We don’t need immediate answers to trust the source of the answers.

Applications:

Parents - There’s no scrolling feature when it comes to raising children.

We just had our third graduate from high school. We’re entering a new phase of life where more of our children are done with high school than not.

But there were times I thought, “Please can we just get through this phase?!?”

Some phases I’m glad we’re past. We’re all out of diapers, thankfully. At least for now.

I’m glad that phase is over. But we’re still in the training phase. We have a few years left in that one.

And as tedious as it feels, if we bypass it, we sell our children short.

It’s hard, but it’s necessary.

And we don’t know how it’s going to turn out, our kids aren’t grown yet, but if we simply follow the light we’ve been given, that’s all the Lord asks.

I don’t need immediate answers to trust the source of the answers.

Christian Growth - There’s no scrolling feature when it comes to becoming like Christ.

It’s a life-long process of one step after another.

And it gets hard and frustrating.

I think, “I’ve been saved long enough that I shouldn’t still be struggling with this.”

We all have those areas that trip us up: Anger, impatience, a critical spirit, gossip, lust, lack of self-control. Whatever it is, it doesn’t go away immediately.

Or maybe it’s the positive - those fruits of the Spirit. I really want to love others the way Christ does, but I just don’t. I really wish I had Joy like I’m supposed to, but it’s just not there. I beg God for growth and fruit, but it’s not immediate.

Right, and you may not have immediate answers to these things. But one thing you know: You can trust the source of the answers. Whether or not you see answers, you can trust that if you follow God’s Word one step at a time, He’ll produce in you what you’re begging Him to.

You don’t need immediate answer to trust the source of the answers.

God’s Will For My Life - This is a big one for many people.

I’m thinking about our young people, especially our graduates.

You’re thinking, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life.”

“What happens after college? How does it all work out for me?”

Here’s the truth: You don’t have to know about 5 years from now. You simply have to make a decision based on the light God has given you today.

And if you’ll do that, you’ll put yourself in a position to do whatever He wants you to do because you followed Him step by step.

The problem we have is getting off of God’s path and trying to bypass what He allows in our lives.

Just trust the process that He’s taking you through. Don’t try to Scroll ahead of Him.

How about trials that seem to make no sense?

When you get a health diagnosis you weren’t expecting.

When your car or refrigerator breaks down again.

When you make a mistake and that person won’t forgive you.

When that relationship seems broken beyond repair.

You don’t need immediate answer to trust the source of the answers.

One step at a time. Just focus on His Word Today.

That’s actually a great slogan: God’s Word, Today.

All I have to do is follow God’s Word today and the rest will be taken care of.

I don’t need immediate answers to trust the source of answers.

What are you facing that makes you feel like you’re over your head?

What trial or burden is taking you down?

What list of things has you overwhelmed, thinking, “I’ll never finish it all?”

What has God asked you to do that seems way too big for you to handle?

We all have some areas that seem too big for our faith.

When that is the case, let me encourage you to focus on three: Who, What, and When

Who? GOD

What? HIS WORD

When? TODAY

That’s all I can do.

Trust God: Not a friend, not finances, not another person. God. Only He knows the end of the path that you take.

Trust His Word: That’s how He reveals Himself. This is the most reliable source of knowledge you could ask for.

Focus on Today: Not tomorrow. Not next month. Right now. You can only live today. His Word only casts light on your next step. Stop trying to scroll ahead.

God’s Word Today

It sounds a lot like Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Who’s the Focus? God - That He is good and He has a purpose and He can make all things work together for good

What tells me that? God’s Word - We know that He is good and has a purpose and can make all things work together for good because His Word tells us

When can I practice that? Today. “All things” can be anything good or bad. Positive or negative. Hard or easy. When the “all things” come, I have two options - Cast myself headlong into despair, turn to my emotions, try in my own strength. Or I can turn to the Who, What and When. God’s Word Today. I can choose to know what His Word says and love Him no matter what I’m facing.

The end, God’s purpose, is something good. I know that’s where He’s taking me.

The “all things” seem impossible to get to that end. But I know the Who: God. And I have His Word. And all I can do today is trust Him.

Let what you know of God and what you read in His Word the light on the path in front of you. Don’t scroll ahead. Just trust the Who: God. The What: His Word. And the When: Today.

I read about a Pastor who lost his son tragically. A few days after it happened he stood in his pulpit and said,

"I cannot make my son's {DEATH} fit into this passage. It's impossible for me to see how anything good can come out of it. Yet I realize that I only see in part. I only know in part.

It's like the miracle of the shipyard. Almost every part of our great oceangoing vessels are made of steel. If you take any single part, be it a steel plate out of the hull or the huge rudder, and throw it into the ocean, it will sink. Steel doesn't float! But when the shipbuilders are finished, when the last plate has been riveted in place, then that massive steel ship is virtually unsinkable.

Taken by itself, my son's {DEATH} is senseless. Throw it into the sea of Romans 8:28, and it sinks. Still, I believe that when the Eternal Shipbuilder has finally finished, when God has worked out his perfect design, even this senseless tragedy will somehow work to our eternal good."

He had no idea how the “all things” could end up in “working together for good,” but He believed God, trusted His Word, and simply walked in the light that he had that day. One Step At A Time.

And you can. GOD’S WORD TODAY.