Daniel 2:27-29 (NIV) Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but 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 were lying in bed are these: “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.”

Many times in this life, I have seen people get credit for someone else's idea or someone else's work. That happens a lot in the secular work world. A lower-level employee gets an idea or does a great job on a project and his supervisor takes the credit with the higher-ups in the company.

Unfortunately and quite incredibly, that also happens with the things of the Lord. Ever since the very first century after Jesus returned to His throne in heaven, there have been people who try to get the attention and the glory from something that God did. For example, if there has been a healing or some other miracle, someone might try to make it seem like it had a lot to do with how pious and holy they are. They make it seem like they have a special "in" with God and they draw glory to themselves, not to mention that they also draw a lot of money to themselves as well. I always have marveled at how people like that have no fear of Almighty God at all.

That's why Daniel is such an encouraging and refreshing character in the Bible. I believe that he is the only one besides Jesus that does not have any negative actions or traits attributed to him. I'm sure that he had them because he was human (he does pray and confess his sins in Daniel 9:20), but obviously there were none that the Lord deemed important enough to let us know about. The passage of scripture above perhaps gives us one of the reasons why that is. Daniel was not after glory for himself. He was so careful to let everyone know, including the king that he was serving, that he did not have any special powers or abilities, but that it was the Lord who was responsible for all of that. He could have been tempted to do it because King Nebuchadnezzar did not know God at all and looked to magicians and enchanters for their advice. He could have built himself up in the eyes of the king to gain favor for himself. But according to the scriptures, Daniel had reverence for God and was considered a man of high esteem (Daniel 10:11). He gave all the glory to God where it belongs. Then God gave him what he didn't seek for himself, as King Nebuchadnezzar made him the ruler over the province of Babylon and put him in charge of all the wise men (Daniel 2:48) for having interpreted his dream.

In giving the credit to God for revealing the mystery of the king's dreams, he opened the king's eyes to the truth and the majesty of the one true God. King Nebuchadnezzar starting recognizing Daniel's God as the God of gods and the Lord of lords (Daniel 2:47). Later, after being humbled by God, we find Nebuchadnezzar praising and glorifying God as the King of heaven in Daniel chapter 4. When God gets the glory that he is due, wonderful things happen. Let's be sure to always give credit where credit is due when it comes to our God. Let's draw attention, praise and glory to Him because He is worthy of it all and He uses His glory to bless those who reverence Him.

Pastor Joey Vazquez