Study #16: Rational v. Irrational (Daniel 3)

I once heard insanity defined as, “Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results each time.” The Scriptures (probably Paul) put it a slightly different way by using an agricultural picture when he said, “…whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7, KJV) Anger, especially extreme anger, has this same effect on people.

King Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t thinking clearly. Rage had spilled over from his heart to the point that he was no longer a rational man. He was completely consumed with his anger. This was exactly the point of the writer when the church at Ephesus was instructed to, “Be ye angry, and sin not….” (Ephesians 4:26, KJV) When we allow our anger to take us from rational to irrational beings, we cannot any longer be yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit within us so we cannot help but act in a sinful manner.

There is no indication that Shadrach, Meshach and Abedneggo were hard of hearing or that they were not present when the orders were given the first time. If this had been the reason for the King’s leniency, it would probably have been mentioned. The fact that no such excuse or reason was given is a direct testimony to their perseverance and dedication under the greatest of pressures: a direct threat on their own life.

Therefore, when the King repeated his instructions to these godly men, he did so in an angry, furious rage. He was completely irrational and he repeated the earlier instructions while simultaneously expecting that he would get different results the second time. What he failed to recognize was the fact that their dedication to the Creator-God was precisely what made them so valuable to him. If, in fact, they had been the same as all of his other wise men, they would all have been executed for failing to tell him his dream together with its interpretation. It was precisely their connection with this one, true God that gave them the power and authority to bring him what he asked for.

Thought: We often face circumstances in our lives that we are unable to understand. Since we cannot make sense of these circumstances, we often react in anger. We permit our anger to become rage and we react emotionally and sinfully. We fail to recognize that God has had a hand in bringing these circumstances into our lives. We also forget that He does nothing without considering how it will impact us and how He can use the circumstances to make us more like Him, more like what He has designed us to be.

The angry reaction is what is natural to us because our basic, natural person is one whose very nature is sinful. However, God puts His divine nature within us via the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the moment of our salvation. With His nature indwelling us, He expects us to be continually more conformed to His glorious image. This means acting and reacting in love rather than in anger, something we cannot do as long as we are being ruled by our (natural) emotions.

In our more lucid moments, let us resolve ourselves to being increasingly yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit in our inner being so that our outer actions will look more and more like the work of Jesus, the Christ.

By His grace, there is more to come….