Have you ever wondered why you are where you are? Do you wonder why God didn’t choose you to have the things you long for, or why He would allow you to struggle with the things that sometimes drag you down? None of it comes by chance. God doesn’t leave our lives to a set of random circumstances. Certainly God doesn’t control our lives, as if you we were puppets, but He has a purpose and plan for each one of us. We just need to stop trying to run the show and allow Him to reveal His plan to us. God has a plan for your life, and Christian stewardship is really all about discovering God’s purpose for our lives.

The last few chapters of Daniel look like all things are hopeless. The beasts look like they are just grinding God’s people into the dust. But the book of Daniel has already been a hopeful book for God’s people, and we see hope comes up from the dust.

Daniel is an old man, and he has been waiting for his whole life for the Lord to return his people back to the homeland. According to the prophet Jeremiah, it was only to last 70 years, and there are just 3 years left. However, an angel of the Lord comes to Daniel and tells him, “No, it’s 7 times 70.”

Daniel has another terrible dream. This one has rams and goats running all over the world destroying it in their wake. Nothing can be done; they are just too big and powerful. Who can stop the charging goats and rams?

We go back in time; Daniel is back in Babylon under that last terrible king. Daniel wakes up sweating; he had a terrible dream, just like the kings before. He sees four beasts coming from the sea, each more powerful than the last. The fourth is the biggest and worst beast; however, we see the son of man gives us hope for the future.

Babylon is over; the Persians are no longer in charge. King Darius loves Daniel because he has an amazing spirit of the Lord and is able to help the king do his job well. But the other leaders don’t like Daniel and create a rule to bring him down. How will Daniel react; will it be with panic and anger, or will he trust in the Lord no matter what may come?

Fast forward 20 or 30 years. The current king of Babylon is not a good one. There are drunken parties every night, even though there is trouble at the gates. But when will this king open his eyes? Perhaps when the writing is on the wall. Or perhaps his heart will always be hard.

The king wakes up in a cold sweat, another bad dream. A huge tree that touches the sky is cut down and is prevented from growing out of the ground again. What does it mean, and will the king listen? Or will the king keep up his behavior of glorying his own image and become no different than a beast in the field?

The king sets up a huge image, and when the music plays, you are to make yourself reverent towards that image and join in worship. Daniel's friends respectfully decline, which enrages the king so much that we see his value of the image of God: human life.

Daniel and his 3 friends are the best of the best. They are all royal Hebrews: handsome and filled with wisdom. But when they are taken captive by Babylon, they are put in a place meant to demean them. They are given new names glorifying false gods and are given food sacrificed to those gods. How would you handle this situation? It’s interesting to see what Daniel does.