Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth. (Dan. 4:32)
Expanded Passage: Daniel 4:31-33
In my freshman year of high school, I was a percussionist in the school’s band. I worked all year to prove my skills and aptitude for a shot at the coveted first chair on snare drum. By school year’s end, my name wasn’t listed where I thought it should be. My pride had blinded me to the reality of the director’s authority.
Nebuchadnezzar had come face-to-face with the ultimate authority. In a single breath, he had traveled from thoughts of grandeur to receiving the consequence of his pride. Talk about taking one on the chin! As hard as it can be, correction is often the means of God’s grace. For Nebuchadnezzar it meant losing control over his kingdom and his own faculties. Pride often brings us to a state of infirmity.
When we allow pride to overtake our lives, it will always cause us to overstep our authority. Nebuchadnezzar had authority, but it was given by God, the ultimate authority. His desire for the first chair was misplaced. Nebuchadnezzar hadn’t taken his authority, but instead had received it from God. Humility comes with our willful acknowledgement of God’s authority in our lives. That all things are permitted by his sovereign hand. As Daniel said, “The Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
Are you struggling to submit to authority in your life?
Practice humility by acknowledging God’s authority.
Aaron Golden is a church planter in North Carolina, husband to Leneé, and father to four amazing kids. You can find Aaron most often hanging with family, smoking on his Traeger grill, and boating or paddle surfing.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
