Waiting (Daniel 10)

Already Daniel had received several dreams and visions at a level which few of us are ever likely to experience (in chapters 7, 8 and 9). But now God takes him deeper still.

For, however much you have received from God, however deep you feel you have gone with him, there is always more - and the deeper we go, the more scary it may get. That was Daniel’s experience: when he received this new vision, concerning a great war (verse 1), it impacted him so deeply that he felt he had to take drastic action until he understood its meaning (verses 2-3).

For three weeks he kept on mourning and fasting - though verses 4-7 indicate that he had not withdrawn from the routine of everyday life. Why was God taking so long to give him a reply? Three weeks may not seem so long when we look back, but while you are waiting it seems an eternity. We are currently having building works done on our house. They have been going on for just over three weeks and, although we know that it will all be worth it in the end, right now we feel as if we have been surrounded by dust and chaos for ever.

Then the answer finally came - after three weeks - and Daniel got a whole lot more than he expected (verses 8-9). That, I find, is how it is with God: he’s either not doing enough - according to my scheme of things - or he’s doing too much and I can’t keep up with him. He is God, and though he is constantly adapting himself to our weakness, he calls us to follow his agenda, rather than him following ours. Both the waiting periods and the times when we feel we can’t cope with all that he is doing are opportunities for us to grow in our knowledge of him and to deepen our relationship with him.

The man who came to him (verse 4) was terrifyingly different from any of the angels who had previously appeared to him. He bears such a striking resemblance to the “Son of Man” who appeared to John in Revelation 1 that we must strongly suspect that this was none other than the Son of God appearing to Daniel in his eternal glory before he came to earth as a human being. His appearance here is also similar to the one to Paul on the Damascus road: Paul was the only person in his group who saw the Lord (Acts 9:7); and Daniel was the only one here (verse 7).

Despite his terrifying appearance, the Lord comes to Daniel with words of encouragement: Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them (verse 12). There was Daniel, wondering why the Lord was taking so long - and all the time he was on his way to meet him. But the Prince of Persia resisted him 21 days - every day was a struggle (verse 13). Whatever this may mean, it shows that when we get down on our knees to pray and humble ourselves before God, we set off a chain reaction in the heavenly places - and most of the time we are blithely unaware of it.

Last week we looked at receiving a promise from God and hanging on to it until it is fulfilled. This inevitably involves a time of waiting, a time when we may question whether God really has heard us or really is interested in answering us. But take heart! As soon as you begin to pray in humility, Jesus Christ begins to set in motion the response; and the kingdom of darkness trembles. The  temptation to give up waiting is strong; and the darkest hour of the night is always the one just before the dawn.

We consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard about the perseverance of Job and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy (James 5:11). And he is full of compassion and mercy towards you as you wait expectantly for him to fulfil his promise.