In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Daniel 2:1
Most of us can empathize with King Nebuchadnezzar; we have had dreams that alarmed or worried us, and that left an impact on us for hours, or even days. I can recall times when I awoke from a particularly disturbing dream and became frustrated because, although I could remember that the dream was disturbing, I could recall none of the details. That was the situation with Nebuchadnezzar, although he had the definite impression that this was not an ordinary dream. He was so convinced that this was a dream of great importance that he made every effort to discover its content and meaning. Thanks to Daniel and his faithful friends, the dream became known. We should give the king credit for seeking out the answer from a reliable source.
With the vast resources of our information age at our fingertips, there are still more unanswered questions than there are answers. Before we were saved, we had burning questions about God and eternity. We found our answers in the Bible, in the preaching of the Gospel, and in the testimonies of faithful witnesses. The unsaved all around us still have those same questions, even those who try to ignore or avoid them. If they would, they could find the answers in the same places that we did. It is our responsibility to strive to bring these answers to them, just as Daniel felt a responsibility to provide answers in his day. Faithfulness in spreading the Gospel, in witnessing, and in living for our Lord are important.
Even with our salvation, we are far from having all the answers. We are just as much in the dark as Nebuchadnezzar was in many ways. We struggle with understanding some parts of Scripture, and with grasping the will of God for our lives. We wonder at the events happening around us and how they fit into God’s plan for the ages. We encounter differences of opinion among godly men and wonder who is right. We enter the deep waters of grief, pain, and conflict, and struggle to reconcile our anguish with the promises of God. Not all of our questions will be answered – at least not now – but where answers are to be had, they are in the same source as Nebuchadnezzar found: the word of God and those who knew the Word of God.
If God will answer our questions now, He will do so from His Word. If He withholds the answers now, He will give them to us when we need them. -Jim MacIntosh