A Study of Daniel: God is Bigger Than Any Test

Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."          

"Similarly, the fear of God is integral to the framework of the Book of Job. Job 1:1 relates that Job was a man who 'feared God and shunned evil,' and the key wisdom poem lying at the heart of the book reminds the reader in the thick of the debate that the essence of wisdom is remarkably simple: 'To fear the Lord is wisdom; and to turn from evil is understanding' (Job 28:28). So the idea of the 'fear of God' brackets the whole of the central debate about innocent *suffering. The message for the reader is the same as we see in Proverbs: there may be much in life that we struggle to understand, but in order to be 'wise,' we must fear God." [1]

God is Bigger Than Any Test

At the end of Daniel and his friends' three years, Nebuchadnezzar gave the final exam, but before that, in 1:17, God gave them knowledge and understanding far beyond everyone else. Tests and exams can be unnerving. We can get scared. But God is bigger than all our tests. God honors those who honor him. As Daniel will teach us in the chapters to come, honor may not be on earth, but it will come without fail. In the long run, you will never regret honoring God. You will never regret resolving not to compromise.

I imagine these four teenagers were nervous about facing King Nebuchadnezzar in his royal palace, but God met them there. God gifted them with wisdom beyond not just the other young men but, above all the other educated men in the kingdom.

We should hold to biblical convictions with grace in our Babylon because God is more significant than our fears. God is bigger than any enemy, authority, law, or test. Our situation today is strikingly similar to Daniel's. We, too, live in a hostile culture. We live in our own Babylon.

Daniel shows us that our role is not to Christianize our nation. America is not a Christian nation. There is no such thing as a Christian nation. There are Christian churches that are faithful to God in the Babylons and Romes of our day. We should not create Christian ghettos where we avoid as much contact as possible with the world. Instead, Jesus sent us into the world to show and tell the love of Christ (Matthew 28:18–20). 

Pray for God to grant you the courage not to compromise biblical convictions because God is bigger than our fears. Pray that you will be able to see the greatness of God over all your fears. We serve a Big God!

Read More in Big God in a Chaotic World: A Study of Daniel

[1] Grant, J. A. "Wisdom and Covenant." Ed. Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns. Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings 2008: 859. Print.