Friday Reflection – November 20, 2020 A Warning to Leaders

Friday Reflection – November 20, 2020
A Warning to Leaders

He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings. Daniel 2:21

Greetings Friends! 

I’m sitting in for Sis Shaneka as she seeks to accomplish her assignments. Our prayers for her.

Have you ever had sleepless nights? Those long, dark and endless hours of the night when we cannot settle down to sleep because of something on our minds? Such matters usually cause worry and anxiety as we wade through the difficult waters of life. If your answer is yes, then you are not alone. Rich and poor, black and white, uptown and downtown, Christian and non-Christian have all been there. King Nebuchadnezzar understands this reality as he had a dream and was so troubled by it that he couldn’t sleep. He summoned his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to interpret his dreams, but none could. This was beyond human comprehension.

Nebuchadnezzar got so mad at his men that he ordered them killed, including Daniel and his companions. To save his life and further bloodshed, Daniel begged the king for a little time to determine the interpretation of his dream, and such request was granted. Daniel consulted his three companions and they sough Yahweh’s revelation. God answered their prayers and revealed the secret of the revelation in a vision to Daniel. The king got the interpretation of his dream.

Today’s Watchword is part of Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving to God for the revelation. Daniel praised God for His power and might. Daniel thought of how God, who changes, deposes and sets up, is in command of all things, and how God is mightier than a mighty king like Nebuchadnezzar. The God of omnipotent and ultimate power rules and over-rules all by His divine providence.

Daniel’s acknowledgement that God deposes kings and sets up kings is a serious warning to all in leadership in whatever sphere of life, be it political, civic or religious. We are not invincible nor irreplaceable; the God who enables us to get there, will take us down! Nebuchadnezzar came to learn this startling truth. Daniel 4: 31-33 says, A voice came from heaven says to him: “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: The kingdom has departed from you! You shall be driven away from human society, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals and gives it to whom he will.”  Immediately the sentence was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. Another example is King Saul. Hear Samuel to him in 1 Kings 15: 17-19, 23: “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission… Why did you not obey the Lord? Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

May those who lead humble ourselves, pursue God’s purposes, and seek always to be faithful to him. 

Jermaine Gibson