But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can hold back His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?”   Daniel 4:34-35 HCSB

You may read this and be confused by the title. Reading this, we see someone who is humble and praising the Lord. But if we go back to verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar was strolling around the roof of his palace and looking out at his kingdom and he actually said, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?”

What was he thinking? We know God hates pride (Proverbs 16:18). James 1:17 tells us that every good thing and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father. But Nebuchadnezzar has the nerve to praise himself for all that God has done for him. This is dangerous territory, my friend. The worst part of this story is that Nebuchadnezzar had a vision in chapter 3, which Daniel interpreted for him. This vision predicted that his sin and pride would cause him to be driven away from his kingdom and the people and live in the field like a cow eating grass for seven years, imagine that. Daniel had respectfully advised him to turn from his sin and pride and worship God in order to prolong his prosperity. But, he didn’t listen. God decided to show him who was in control and fulfilled that vision.

When we start to get prideful in what we have done, we have a tendency to leave God out of the equation. We forget that we take each breath because God allows it. Anything we accomplish is through God. Even as a sinner, we are still under God’s control. We can’t do anything God doesn’t allow us to do.

Sadly, many of us confuse free will with being in control. God gives us free will to choose whom we will serve. We can choose to serve Him or we can choose to serve the devil. There is no middle ground. But we must never forget God is in control. Even the devil can only do what God allows him to do. We can choose to serve Him and be blessed or we can choose the devil and our selfish pride. That is the only choice we have to make. God controls everything else.

Nebuchadnezzar had been made ruler over this vast kingdom. They had conquered God’s people. God had allowed this because His people had fallen into sin and idolatry.  God wasn’t blessing Nebuchadnezzar, He was punishing His people. God had shown favor on Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar had just seen this when Daniel interpreted dreams. He had seen this when he threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace. Daniel told him God was interpreting his dreams. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t even have soot or the smell of smoke on them because God had saved them. But still he thinks he is running things.

Instead of getting down on his knees and thanking God for his blessings, he is strolling around patting himself on the back. No good will come of this. After seven years with the cattle, we see from today’s scripture passage, that his sanity is returned. So we could say that he suffered temporary insanity. And he praises God and is fully aware of who is in charge.

Proverbs 16:5 tells us that arrogance is an abomination to the Lord. This means that God hates it when we are arrogant. Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride comes before destruction. We saw this come to life with Nebuchadnezzar. God brought him as low as he could possibly go. He destroyed his kingdom and removed him from human beings. God hates pride, it’s just that simple.

My friend, if you are feeling pretty good about what you have accomplished in your life, stop and think. You must understand you have accomplished nothing on your own. There is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. I hate to bust your bubble, but it is what it is. Every breath we take is because it is allowed by God.

I pray you are always mindful that He is in complete control. I pray you are thankful to Him for everything you have and everything you have been able to accomplish. I pray you bring Him glory and honor and praise. Don’t go through what King Nebuchadnezzar went through to understand who is in charge. There is a much simpler way. Just get down on your knees, humble yourself and give God all the glory. Don’t let pride destroy you.

Have a great day!