Don't Stay In The Dark

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto [is] the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Da 7:27-28 AV)

One has to wonder why the vision Daniel received troubled him.  What was it about the future that was disconcerting?  The vision ends with Messiah coming and restoring Israel.  The vision ends with God’s people in complete victory.  What is it that bothered Daniel?  We notice that he kept it in his heart.  What he did see, he mused on.  What he did understand, he thought upon.  However, in his meditations, something he saw, or failed to see, bothered him.  We don’t know exactly what it was that bothered him, but we do know one thing.  Because he kept the matter in his heart without further expounding on the matter, he was disturbed by the lack of understanding which he possessed.  In other words, in a general sense, what bothered Daniel was not what he knew, but what he didn’t know.

It is natural to want to know as much as one can know.  No one likes to live in the dark.  No one likes to live in partial darkness.  We all want as much facts as we possibly can know.  Daniel was no exception.  The LORD honored his concerns by sending more visions.  Theses addition dreams looked at the same prophetical events but from a different perspective.  One vision might have been the identity of coming kingdoms while another might have revealed the nature of coming kingdoms.  Sometimes, like Daniel, we do not know why it is bothering us.  We just know it is.  There is some fact or missing piece that eludes our understanding.  We don’t need it all.  But we do need that portion which clicks with our minds.

When it came to the question and method of salvation, my one question was the ease in which it seemed salvation was.  Why was it so easy?  Why not a set of rules?  Why not a process by which we participate?  It just seemed so easy.  We have these questions from time to time.  Often, they are unique to us and our experience.  The key is to ponder what one knows but seek more enlightenment.  Don’t stay in the dark.  Seek more until the LORD tells you faith is the next step.  But never, ever, stay in the dark!