Under or Above Pressure?

Dan.2:¹⁴ “When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. ¹⁵ He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened.”

There is so much to learn from how Daniel handled the situation with the king. Daniel was a master negotiator. Daniel’s life was at stake, but he was calm. It was like there was a gun pointed to his head, but he was not under pressure or hysterical. You have to be discrete; personally, I am very weary of people that are not discrete. Daniel exhibited the same kind of confidence in God that he had displayed with every challenge he encountered. He did not change his disposition because He knew that in God there will be a solution.

Everybody is going to go through pressure. Pressure is a revealer. How people behave when they are under pressure reveals those that really know God. You can tell someone that is rooted in God by observing how they are when everything is falling apart. Daniel was on the hit list of, not just any king, but the strongest king on earth at the time. But he did not panic, instead Daniel calmed the king down and then requested for time assuring the king that he will give the king what he wanted so desperately. Wow, what confidence!

Dan.2:¹⁶ “Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.” Another profound lesson here is always, always, always buy time even if you know the answer to a crucial thing, even if the answer is on your lips, think first. This is one of the tests I give the people around me. Always think, do not be quick to assume that what is on your lips is the right thing. Always use your brain, think, engage first and like we see in the case of Daniel, always buy time. You are negotiating a big deal, even when you know that this thing is going to happen, buy time. Always ask for time to pray through your position or to think things through. Time is an amazing revealer. My grandmother used to say, “It takes three days to know a thief and seven days to know a witch”. What she was saying in essence is that every category of problem has a number of days required for insight, for revelation.

Please read Dan.2:17-19. None of us is stronger than all of us. None of us is more anointed than all of us. We need each other, we are stronger and better together. One of the deceptions of the enemy is to make people think they are self-sufficient, all-knowing, and not needing anything from anyone. It is a trap of satan and sadly, a lot of Christians have eaten the bait.

Prayer: Lord God, that I may know You and be in consistent fellowship with You, so that I will be strong in all situations and do many exploits in Your Name, in Jesus Name. Amen!