Daniel 10-12

As we finish up the book of Daniel, Daniel keeps having these divine interactions with God (Daniel 10-12).  And the more we read the Bible, we realize that God finds ways to interact with all of us.  

Daniel is this really faithful guy.  And yet, in God's interactions with Daniel, Daniel is left speechless and humbled.  He's nervous, afraid, heavy hearted even.  It's so much to take in.  

I have seen myself in Daniel's shoes as he says,

"'How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord?  My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.'

Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.

  'Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,' he said.

  'Peace! Be strong now; be strong.'

When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said,

  'Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.'"

Daniel 10:17-19

I think about this interaction, I know that all of us can have very personal and direct interactions with God, interactions where we get glimpses of His realness and His power.

But what if you are one of those people reading, and you can't name a specific and direct time in which you experienced God's presence?  What does that mean?

First, let me assure you- that doesn't mean God is not with you.  

It happens to all of us from time to time.  We don't feel as connected to God.  

And I think those times when we can't feel and hear God, it's more about us needing to make more room for Him in our lives in this hyperdigital, noisy world ..whatever that means.

We have to remind ourselves that God loves us as we are.  It's by his grace we find life.  God is here, with you, right now.  Because the thing we know in our faith is that with Jesus in the picture, God is with each of us when we believe in Him.  

And the reason I can say that with certainty is because I haven't always been where I am today in my faith.  There was a time in my life when I believed in God, but I am not sure I could have named specific divine interactions happening.  Although I believed, I didn't really pursue God and my faith with intention on a regular basis.

And so to continue the conversation about Daniel's divine interaction, we see that even though it's a bit overwhelming, maybe even a little scary at times, Daniel finds instantaneous strength from it.  When we dare to look for God and find His voice in our lives, when we pursue Him, when we are willing to pray to Him, like Daniel, we too find ourselves humbled yet stronger, stronger with an inner strength we didn't know we had.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for speaking to me in real ways, here and now.  

Forgive me for all the ways I do not notice Your presence and Your voice in my life.  

Come to me, Lord, and open my eyes, ears, and my heart.  Help me to hear Your voice, Your direction, and Your assurance as I go through my days.  And as I look for You God, fill me with Your strength and Your peace.

I also pray for _________________.  Please, Lord, bless _______________ with your strength and peace also.  Help _____________ to know You are near.

In Jesus' name I pray, 

Amen

Peace of Christ,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.