But, When?
Today’s scripture selection: Daniel 7-12
Key verses: Daniel 12:8-9
Daniel was a faithful man – from the beginning to the end of his life.
Because of his unique God-given abilities to interpret dreams and other visions, he had a rich and full life, even while in captivity in another land.
But, toward the end of his life, he had a problem – one that many of us have now and then. He couldn’t help wondering one thing:
When? When would the amazing visions about powerful world kingdoms ultimately being overcome by God’s kingdom come true?
Were his visions just that – only visions – dreams – that would never come to fruition?
We can wonder than too.
We seek to be faithful – faithful to our calling; faithful to the God who calls us.
But there are those times when our “vision” of what we think is to be – seems like nothing more than a one night’s dream; quickly swept away in the light of day.
If you have ever felt that way – look at what God had to say to Daniel, now an old man, wondering what it had all been about:
“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of your days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”
Daniel must have taken comfort in that during his “latter” days.
He had always been a visionary; always a dreamer. But not in the way we think of someone who wastes his life with useless day-dreaming. Daniel was privileged to see things most men never see and understand things most never dare to dream.
He didn’t see it all come to pass. He didn’t see what it all meant. But, in the end, God reassured him that his visions would come true – one day – in time.
Prayer: God of sacred history; God of all time and space; help me to be patient and trust that all is unfolding just as it should, even when I can’t see it. AMEN.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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