Read:  Daniel 4:24-37  

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 

What does God’s timepiece look like? Do you think He has one? I don’t believe He does. God created time and He deals with time, but I doubt that He is a clock-watcher. The Scriptures make it clear that He works with time, for man is a creature of time, but this in no way limits Him as He moves in eternal realms. 

The thing that catches our attention in today’s reading is God’s patience. Why would God spend so much time waiting on a king like Nebuchadnezzar? He sent him a dream, which Daniel interpreted as having a startling message. The king would lose his reason for seven years and eat grass like an ox, wandering the fields. The purpose of this was to show Nebuchadnezzar that God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe.   

Was this king more important that you or I? It is evident that he was not. How long God works with people to get their attention! For some of us, He sends a debilitating disease as a daily reminder that He wants our undivided loyalty. He says, “Look to me, Son . . . Daughter, my strength is sufficient for you today. Trust me for it.” Then we learn that every day is His day, and not ours. 

Some of us are “harder nuts to crack” than others, so we need greater pressure, greater pain. A friend of mine who also has Parkinson’s disease told me that this disease has been the means of his salvation. He said that he had many issues that needed attention in his life, which he was made to see through suffering.  

So can you say, “Lord, send me whatever I need, and please be patient until I learn”? 

~James Baer