Neil

Could I be as brave as Daniel? I wish! Daniel was a great man gifted and called by God for His purposes, who walked with God in his daily life. A parallel is Joseph. Others like St Paul and Luther have also stood before kings. These men were chosen by God for special tasks. Today we need such leaders in our Christian faith as our world is in such a fragile state. .

Nebuchadnezzar had it all. His mere word was law across his wide kingdom. People bowed and scraped before him. On the other hand such adoration could leave him a lonely man for true affection, something we see when we work for a hard boss. Then his pride can prevent lesser mortals from getting close.

We have a small intercessory prayer group in our church and we also pray to God during worship and group studies, for those within our congregation and those in the world where wars, disasters and troubles occur regularly in these times. But in comparison to Daniels's earnest prayers our/my efforts are weak. Daniel's humility in not claiming credit is indeed amazing. Regarding our humility, I think the answer is tied up in Jesus' promise: "he/she who loses his/her life for my sake, shall find it."