Read: Daniel 1:1-2:23, 1 Peter 3:8-4:6, Psalm 119:65-80, Proverbs 28:14

Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power… I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength.
(Daniel 2:20, 23)

Relate: In his message yesterday, Pastor Will talked about how he had been sick most of this past week. I know it, I saw him Friday night and he looked like death warmed over. I rode home from church with another guy who was fighting a cough. We stopped for lunch at Price Chopper where he was also planning to pick up some Sudafed for his wife. Before going there we dropped off at her apartment another young lady whose husband wasn’t at church today. He stayed home because he was too sick to crawl out of bed.

My brother was in the hospital up in Syracuse all of last week and much of the week before. I didn’t get to go up to visit him as much as I would have liked because I have been sick off and on myself and I didn’t want to pass anything on to him. He’s got enough trouble of his own. My mother was bouncing every day between visiting him and visiting her mother who is in another hospital recovering from a fall.

React: These past two weeks have been a very poignant reminder of how weak and fragile our bodies are. It would be very easy for me to be like, “I’ll be grateful for my health when I am a bit healthier.” It’s not so easy to say it when you’re on your knees, before the throne, puking into it, flush and repeat.

That’s why I love what jumped out at me as I was reading from Daniel. First off, all wisdom and power are God’s. He holds it all. Secondly, He has given it to us. Any wisdom I might have doesn’t come from my IQ. It has nothing to do with my intelligence and very little to do with how much I study. It is a gift from God. Any strength I have is not a result of my physical health. It doesn’t come from pumping iron, eating right, or not smoking. Those things are good, but my strength is found only when I am found in Him.

So am we as healthy as a horse? Let’s thank God because it is a gift from Him. Is that nose running and the cough acting up? Let’s thank God because He has designed in us an incredible immune system and it is actively on the case. Did the doctor give a prognosis that means the time we have left on earth is going to be measured in days and weeks, not months, years, or decades? Let us thank God for soon we will be shedding this mortal coil. Then, ever and always, we will be found in Him.

Respond: 

God, more than anything else, I am grateful that You allow me to be found in You. You have opened a way, You have provided access, and now I am Yours. This body will have it’s ups and downs. My mind might forget, or simply not be adequate to a task. But that is OK. I am so grateful that don’t have to rely on my own wisdom and strength. You have more than enough for me. Thank You for this gift.