Do you ever wonder if the Lord is actually in control of all things? Sometimes really bad things happen in the world. We hear of mass shootings and wars. We hear of sinful lifestyles. We hear of terrible accidents, and we may wonder if the Lord is actually in control.

Daniel may have been thinking the same in the days that he lived. He was stuck in Babylon, far away from his own people, and he had to live and train with the ungodly wise men. He may have wondered where God was in all of this and if God was really in control.

Well, God gives a dream, not to Daniel, but to King Nebuchadnezzar, to show to all the world that God is in control. God’s kingdom will one day destroy all other kingdoms and rule over the whole world.

In this dream the King saw a great image which had a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of clay, the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay. This image meant that after the kingdom of Babylon there would be other great kingdoms — maybe the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire. But that’s not the important part. The important part is what happens next. A small stone comes and knocks down the image and then grows into a big mountain filling the whole earth.

This stone that fills the whole earth was pointing ahead to Jesus Christ. He has come and he has destroyed all the other great kingdoms. He is in control of the whole world. Now, it doesn’t always look like that yet. But that’s because Christ hasn’t returned yet. For now, God still allows the rulers of this world to do their sinful things, but we know that one day all the world will be totally destroyed, and sin will be destroyed with it. On that day, God’s kingdom will be the only kingdom, and we will be allowed to live with God in his kingdom. We are his sons and daughters and so we will reign with him. Oh, what a glorious future we can look forward to.

Reflection with your child:

How can knowing that Christ is going to return comfort you when scary things happen in the world?

Source: Sermon by Rev. S. ’t Hart