Facing the Extra-ordinary
Facing the Extra-Ordinary
Good change, bad change, good economy, bad economy, hope on the one hand, fear on the other. As a church we are moving on through our lives and our life circumstances while we look forward to the future. It’s a good hope, but it presents us with extraordinary circumstances. Many of us face extra-ordinary circumstances related to work or family, extended family, relationships at church and with friends. It even seems like for many, life has become extra-ordinary….just finding creative ways to keep gas in the car or food on the table hasn’t become the exception, but the rule. Extra-ordinary circumstances present people with opportunity to either succeed or fail. When we find ourselves in extra-ordinary circumstances, there are no manuals, videos or seminars on what to do. We are presented with decisions daily on how to act or respond in a given situation. You may have come here this morning with a question in your mind related to your own situation, I just don’t know what to do? What should we do? In Daniel chapter 2 Daniel probably wondered something similar...After the Monarchy was divided, Israel was deported by Assyria, and later Judah was deported to Babylon, Daniel and the three Hebrew friends were among the wise men imported from Judah to serve in Babylon. Several good characteristics emerge from this story that illustrate what happens when God’s people get put in extraordinary circumstances, they become what the title of my message is today: HOW TO FACE THE EXTRA-ORDINARY
PRAYER
1. Extraordinary Survivors face surprising challenges
Daniel 2: 1-13
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means."
4Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,"
O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
5The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me."
7Once more they replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it."
8Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me."
10The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man 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. 11What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." (You can be a complainer and say its impossible, or you can trust God and say why not) There will always be people in the world who know when something can’t be done.
12This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death
It’s not my fault....one of the most frustrating types of trial is group reprimands. You know how it goes, one person does something and the whole group receives rebuke. Policy manuals are full of legislation that resulted from one person’s irresponsibility and the subsequent tightening of restrictions placed on the group. It’s normal fair for the Christian in school or at work to find himself in trouble he doesn’t cause. But God is above all the trouble. God understands all the pain and He is superintending your life and your soul no matter what you are facing. THINGS WILL HAPPEN. Jesus said: In this world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!” When trouble comes its an opportunity to show Christian kindness and thanksgiving. And.....SKILL
2. Extraordinary Survivors use Skill and Tact: Daniel 2:14-15
14When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact..
God has provided the skill and tact we need through the Sprit!!!
USE SKILL and TACT....the Fruit of the Spirit....love joy peace longsuffering gentleness goodness, meekness, faith.....let’s keep in step with the Spirit......THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT CAN BE SUMMED UP IN TWO WORDS: BE NICE!
Or you may be like Zephaniah when he prophesied how that Jerusalem would not fall..... Not by Might, Nor By Power, but By My Spirit says the Lord!
3. Extraordinary Survivors Take Action: Daniel 2:15-16
15He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him
It’s important to take action
4. Extraordinary Survivors Involve Others in Prayer: Daniel 2:17-20
17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
At that time, Daniel did not know what the answer was, he was under a death sentence, but Daniel knew where to take the problem!!!!
A. Daniel told his friends how to pray: Plead for mercy
B. Daniel’s prayer had a purpose: we don’t want to die!!!!!
We need to influence others toward God......
(A little over 17 years ago A small group of teenagers in Burleson, came to a weekend disciping retreat. On Saturday night God penetrated their hearts like never before. The students were broken before God and burdened for their friends. Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Those students had no idea how God would use their obedience. See You at The Pole was begun. According to their website, Since 1991, See You at the Pole™ has grown to God-sized proportions. Within only a couple of years, students were praying in several countries around the world. Now, more than 3 million students EACH YEAR from all 50 states participate in SYATP. Students in more than 20 countries take part. In places like Canada, Guam, Korea, Japan, Turkey, and the Ivory Coast, students are responding to God and taking seriously the challenge to pray. )
Several years ago, Scott Wesley Brown sand the song:
When answer’s aren’t enough there is Jesus. He is more than just an answer to your prayer. In his heart you’ll find a safe and peaceful refuge, when answers aren’t enough He is there
5. Extraordinary Survivors Give Praise to God: Daniel 2:21-23
19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you,you have made known to us the dream of the king."
GOD WILL HELP YOU! GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE WISDOM YOU NEED, GOD WILL HELP YOU move through this trial. One of the great phrases in the Bible is it came to pass AND IT DID!! IT CAME TO PASS, IT DIDN’T COME TO STAY. ...HIS HIGH PURPOSES FOR YOU ARE GREATER THAN YOUR PURPOSES....
Daniel knew that he was not responsible for the answer to the problem. He knew that his answer was beyond and above time and human reason, wisdom and experience. His answer was with the one who spoke the world into existence, who calls the stars by name. And has the hair of our head all numbered!!!
We are not responsible for our success, God is.
I know I shall see in His beauty the king in whose law I delight. Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps and gives me a song in the NIGHT
IT may be your darkest hour, there may be no evidence or light of a miracle within view, but as the Psalmist wrote but when God is involved he can make the night like day and the storm like calm. The Psalmist said . At night His song is with me!!!
6. Extraordinary Survivors Think of Others: Daniel 2:24-
24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him."
25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means."
26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?"
27Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29"As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31"You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue_an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36"This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39"After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.(Alexander the Great) 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron_for iron breaks and smashes everything_and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. (Babylonian, Median, Persian, Greek and the Coming Universal Kingdom of God) 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands_a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
Don’t you love that? When God speaks the interpreter can give it a money back guarantee! The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
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7. With the Help of God: Extraordinary Survivors Win
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."
48Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at Dan 2:49
the royal court.
( this is a long-term process. Our lives take the same pattern day after day, month after month, year after year....but don’t be discouraged....God is at work....and He’s working out His purpose in you....Ephesians says You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that God had fore ordained that you should walk in Him.
NIV
You may not feel as if you can have victory today, but the victory is on the way!
While we look for the blessed hope.