“I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.“
In all honesty I made some mistakes as a kid and I knew better. I remember one night we had snuck out of the house when my parents were asleep. I thought I was so cool for doing this. My friends and I knew our neighborhood well, we had different paths to get home, different hiding spots if we needed them. Usually we would see some headlights and out of fear, forget our plans and hiding spots and just run away as fast as we could! I still remember one night running all the way home because I was so afraid of being seen or caught when headlights came around a corner.
In Daniel 10:7 there were two men with Daniel when he had a miraculous vision. We do not know much about them, but we know they ran away terrified. Most likely they were not following God and even though they couldn’t see anything, the sounds they heard were enough to cause terror in their hearts. It caused them to run from God.
The problem is they ran from God and missed a chance to know him. When we run from God, we end up missing out on seeing him work, hearing his voice, or getting to know him. Missing out on God is the most terrifying thing in this world.
As I sat and read this chapter I kept coming back to this verse because it gives us a contrast of Daniel and these 2 men. We see Daniel, faithful, still terrified, but knows he needs God, so he just fell and waited. We see two men who have no faith, terrified, and so they ran from God. It made me ask myself, what am I running from God within my life? What am I hiding from God? Where am I not looking for his work? Where am I not listening or seeing him?
I would encourage you to reflect for a moment on those same questions. If you want to follow Daniel’s example, bring your answers to God. See what he tells you. God is waiting for you so please don’t run from him!
Jeremy Johnson
Family Pastor