The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Daniel 6:3, 5, 7, “Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps

because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire

kingdom.

5 Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it

against him with regard to the law of his God.’

7 “All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the

governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction

that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast

into the lions’ den.”

It was a conversation I shall never forget. My mentor, Dr. Earl L. Pounds, was discussing a situation with me when he said, “Sometimes, you have to be smart enough to be a little bit dumb.” The context of that particular situation has long escaped me, but that one sentence has glued itself tightly to my memory. It’s the dumb and the smart that we survey tonight.

Although he was a Jew and technically a foreigner, Daniel had distinguished himself before Babylonian kings Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and now Darius. He had explained kings’ dreams and had been elevated to third highest position in the kingdom. But, that’s where the problem began. Jealousy raged in the hearts of the other kingdom officials! They had to do something to displace him from his position and authority over them.

These pagans rulers had to displace Daniel. They concocted a scheme against him. And they reasoned well that their scheme would not succeed unless they found something wrong with Daniel’s God! I’ve had my share of adversaries in my lifetime, but my problem was that no one had to go outside of me to find fault. Does your life more resemble mine than Daniel’s? I was afraid of that!

So the schemers feigned pride in King Darius, heaping praise upon him and procuring his signature on a spurious 30-day document designed to consign Daniel to a Lions’ Den! Darius should have smelled a rat because the law he signed was only for 30 days! Why stop at 30? Why not 30 months or 30 years? Be warry when others heap too much praise on you. Something’s not quite right…

And all the while, Daniel was in prayer before the LORD God (v. 10)! The LORD had delivered him from

Nebuchadnezzar’s Fiery Furnace! He would deliver him from Darius’ Den of Lions!

The lesson here is two-fold: 1) Beware when others speak too highly of you. “There’s a monkey in the

woodpile somewhere,” as my mother used to say. And 2), stay close to the LORD in prayer. Let your life show forth “to the praise of His glory”; and always depend upon Him to be your Advocate and Deliverer! He never fails!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. Please pray for my friends, Lenoid and Elena Kolker! They are dedicated Christians, who want to live and work in this

country. They desperately need our prayers and support!

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need until He becomes all that we have.”