I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram with two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.    Daniel 8:7 ESV

This is an excerpt from a vision Daniel had in chapter 8. In this vision he saw a goat attack a ram, bring it down to the ground and trample it. This goat refers to the Grecian empire that would follow that of the Medo-Persian empire. In verse 8-9 Daniel says, ” Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land.”

As I mentioned, I have been reading the book by Dr. David Jeremiah and C. C. Carlson, The Handwriting on the Wall. I find it fascinating and strongly encourage you to read it for yourself. But I would like to share with you some of the things Dr. Jeremiah pointed out about Daniel’s prophetic visions.

In his book, he speaks of the great victories accomplished by Alexander the Great. He tells that while Alexander was on his way to Jerusalem to conquer that city, one of the priests gave him a copy of the book of Daniel. After all, he was in there. Once he read the prophecy, he was said to have gotten down on his knees and worshiped. His early death had been foretold when it said in verse 8, the great horn was broken when he was strong. Alexander the Great died at age 33 after bouts with drunkenness and depression.

Initially he believed that he was conquering all these kingdoms under his power. Once he read the prophecy about himself in the book of Daniel, he realized he did these things for God’s purpose. He was just a tool or an instrument.

God didn’t put any of us here to be powerful or great in our own doing. Any strength, power, or knowledge we have comes from God. He uses us to accomplish His purpose.

This is why the Bible has so much to say about the dangers of being prideful. When we think we are all that and doing all these great things under our own power and control, we are denying God’s power.

2 Timothy 3:5 talks about those who claim to be Christians. It says that there will be people who will have the appearance of godliness but deny its power. My friend, we must acknowledge that God is sovereign. He rules and controls all things.

Whatever we are able to do, we do because He allows us to do it. He even controls what Satan does. If you read the first chapter of Job, you will see that God allowed Satan to test Job. God set the limits of how far Satan could go in doing so.

When we acknowledge that he controls it all, it’s so much easier to give it all over to Him. God gives us free will. We can use that free will to deceive ourselves and think we are in control. Or we can exercise our free will wisely and acknowledge His great power and control and worship Him.

I encourage you today to do a pride check. Are you proud of an accomplishment? Have you given God the glory for that accomplishment. Have you praised Him for the good things He has done for you and given to you?

Maybe you are going through some difficult times. Have you given it all up to Him? Have you laid your troubles at His feet? Any problem we face is too big for us, we need to give it to Him. This is the only way to have peace and joy in our lives regardless of our circumstances.

Trust in Him today. Acknowledge Him as sovereign Lord. Give the control over to Him not just because He has it anyway, but because you love Him with your whole heart and trust Him. You will be so glad you did.

Have a great day!