“And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, King of Judah into his hand…” (v 2)

  I am reminded again this morning of the unstoppable will of Almighty God.  As strong and powerful as the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar may have been it was the Lord that allowed this pagan (yet sympathetic to God’s people) King to take Judean leadership into captivity.  It would have appeared that all the promises of God had been broken, that the hope of Israel would have been dashed on the rocks of harsh reality; it looked like the God of Abraham was dead…at least to the near-sighted human eye.  

  But the truth of the matter was that God was still in control!  He was still in the process of molding His people and reaching the world. It was time to shake up and shake out those who casually relied on their heritage instead of truly trusting in God.  It was time to remove the unfaithful from the faithful.  Everything would be stripped away except their raw faith…and those who truly believed would rise to the surface.  Yes, God was in control! (see v9, v17)  And today, when it would seem that He is absent and removed from my pain and silent to my questions and petitions. But He is there; He is still in control.  So, I will believe and obey like Daniel and his friends.

 A Prayer…

Father, You reign!  You rule the world!  You control all of History!  There is not a single world event that you are unaware of.  You are at work.  That is my confession of faith this morning…and I will trust in You.  Amen.