Who Gets the Credit?

Over the last few days in these devotionals, I’ve shown you what Daniel did when facing an impossible situation. The king had asked for someone to interpret an unusual dream. The king’s wise men couldn’t explain the meaning of the dream and that almost got them killed.

The stakes were high! But Daniel followed a biblical process that can help us too: Don’t panic, and then get the facts. Ask for more time. Gather prayer partners. Ask God for supernatural help. Worship God. And, use what you’ve learned to save others.

We also see that when God revealed truth, Daniel used the opportunity to point others to God.

The Bible says Daniel told the king, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed” (Daniel 2:27-28 NLT). 

Daniel didn’t take credit for the amazing answer to the king’s dream. He knew God had given him the answer. So he was honest about that.

I don’t know about you, but if I were a 17-year-old boy and I did something to make the king happy, I’d be tempted to take a bit of the credit. Daniel did the praying. He did the listening. He did the obeying.

Couldn’t he have taken some credit? He could have, but he didn’t. Instead he made sure people knew that God was the one who had the power to deliver them.

God will do great things through a person who doesn’t care who gets the credit.

The Bible says the pagan king told Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret” (Daniel 2:47 NLT).

How about that? A pagan leader acknowledged the true Creator of the universe.

When you spend your life pointing people to God, miracles happen.