I Am No Longer In Charge

Hey, everyone! My name is Nebuchadnezzar (call me King N), and I would like to tell you a story. This story should be more about me, because I love myself. I love the finer things in life. I love being in power. I love seeing people bow down before me. But it isn’t about me. 

Things were going well – very well, actually. I had just defeated the king of Judah and taken over his kingdom, and in the process, gotten some wise young Israelite men to join my palace staff. You should have seen the treasures I got from their temple. I had never seen anything like them! I knew I had hit the jackpot by conquering this nation. I wonder why their God let them go into captivity. Anyway…

These young men were different. One of them, Daniel, interpreted a dream that none of my wise men could. The other three refused to bow down to an idol that I had set up and commanded that everyone would worship. What kind of God was this that they were ready to give up their lives for? AAARGH! Why didn’t they get it? I defeated them! I was now in charge? They needed to BOW to the idol!

But they didn’t, so I had them thrown into the furnace. I lost a few of my men in the process, but I didn’t care. I wanted these young men to know who was boss. 

“Let me have one more look at these arrogant young men before they are burned to ashes,” I thought. I looked in, only to see not three but FOUR people walking in the furnace! What was this? Who was the fourth person? He looked like an angel!

“Come out,” I shouted to the men. Out they came, with not a single burn on their bodies or their clothes. That’s when I get it – God had sent the fourth person to protect them. The God they served was more powerful than I thought. 

For a couple of days, I remained in awe of this Great God. Every time I saw the young men, I remembered what I had seen in the furnace. But after a while, I went back to my old ways. Once again, everything became about me. 

Then I had another dream. This time it was about a tree. I asked Daniel to interpret the dream, and from what he said, it was about me. Hmm – not what I wanted to hear! I quickly told myself that since what happened in the last dream didn’t happen immediately, I still had time to live my life on my terms. 

I was in for a rude and grassy shock! My friends, I flourished like that tree. My kingdom became more powerful, prospering under my rule. One year after having the dream, as I walked on the palace rooftop, I admired all that I had accomplished, attributing it to my power and greatness. As soon as the last word left my mouth, a voice came from heaven, declaring that what I had seen in the dream would come to pass.

Within moments, I was forced away from people. I ate grass like a cow! My hair looked like an eagle’s feathers! I was covered in dew! My nails were like the claws of a bird! This was me, King N, reduced to an animal!

I had no idea where I was or what I was doing. I only know that after seven years, I looked up towards heaven and praised God for His greatness and power. I finally acknowledged God. 

The moment I did so, I was restored to my right mind. God, in His mercy, restored me. I was King N again, not the mad person in the field. My subjects still recognized me as king. It was as though those seven years had never happened. 

This story, as I said earlier, is not about me. It’s about God. All this time, I thought that I was in charge and that I had acquired all I had by myself. These two experiences, however, taught me that there was someone else orchestrating events for His glory, and that person was God. He was the one who was truly in charge. 

Friends, King N has a message for you. Did you notice that after I acknowledged God, He restored everything I had lost? Surrendering to God’s sovereignty does not mean that you lose everything. Letting Him take charge of your life means that you trust Him to work things out for your good and to handle the things that you can’t. Surrendering to His will also means that you value your relationship with Him more than what He can give you.

Let God rule over every area of your life. Don’t wait for Him to take you through a Nebuchadnezzar moment before you acknowledge His sovereignty.

One more thing – If you are going through a Nebuchadnezzar moment, do what I did. Look up to Him and acknowledge Him as God.