Background: I was always one of the "smart" kids in HS, so coming to IU was a pretty humbling experience for me. There are a lot of really intelligent people here and a lot of them are a lot smarter than me. I thought I had finally become accustomed to my own level of intelligence and talent last semester, but there were still discouraging moments. One in particular comes to mind. Science is all about questions--continuous questions. So in my upper-level classes, I was pretty happy if I was able to 1. understand the material, and 2. process through it enough to come up with questions about it. However, there was this one girl in one of my classes who asked these insane questions. The kind that make you gawk at her in awe and say 'man, where did that come from?! i wish i had thought of that.' She was always a mile ahead of the rest of us. While we were still processing through the material, she was onto thinking about the next issue or implication. Instead of being encouraged by her questions, I was completely discouraged. I fell into the whole self-deprecating, she's-so-much-smarter-than-me act. Pity party.
One of the next few nights, I picked up my Bible and randomly started to read Daniel. (I love it when I choose a passage to read without intention and God speaks to me through it!!) In my friend Christina's words: Daniel was a studmuffin. That's right. He had it going on. He was handsome, smart, well informed, quick to learn, and able to take on the responsibility given to him (1:4-5). God gave him knowledge and understanding (1:17). Now the big difference (among many others!) between Daniel and I: he took his knowledge and understanding, realized where it came from, and instead of comparing himself to others, he praised God for it. He was humble and pointed out the fact that without God he could not have interpreted the king's dream--the knowledge and understanding were not his own to claim and they would serve God's purpose. I just keep going back to the verses below.
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. (2:27-28)
As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. (2: 30)
