Daniel 8:26–27 (ESV)

“And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future.”

And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

Despite Gabriel’s comforting words, Daniel still was appalled by the vision and did not understand it. Why? Gabriel was told back in verse 16 to, “Make this man understand the vision.”? Why did he fail?

This adds to the earlier point about Daniel’s total inability to understand the dream. The final instruction— “Therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future”—at least gives Daniel the comfort that this prophesy is far off.

But that’s little help. He knew it was about times of the end already. The instruction to seal up the vision is shocking. Daniel is ordered to keep what he knows a secret. What’s a prophet supposed to do if he can’t prophesy?

Daniel ends up literally worried sick over this. Why couldn’t Gabriel at least comfort Daniel enough that he can continue functioning as a prophet?

Then again, he’s been ordered to not “function as a prophet” anyway, at least with respect to this vision.

This feels like failure. If Daniel doesn’t understand his own vision, the only safe way to avoid speaking falsehoods is to keep quiet. Prophets aren’t supposed to find themselves in this position. Speaking a falsehood is the signature of a false prophet. That’s not supposed to be a temporary condition that befalls the real ones.

So, not understanding his vision, plus being ordered to keep quiet, is an emotional train wreck for Daniel. What’s killing Daniel isn’t just that he doesn’t understand the vision.

He can’t even figure out why he doesn’t understand the vision.

Suck it up buttercup.

And that is exactly what Daniel does. Then I rose and went about the king’s business. He got up and went back to work. Daniel was crushed, but he soldiered on.

This is a critical lesson for us. God doesn’t promise perfect understanding—to Daniel or to us. Life in Christ includes disappointment. That’s no excuse to drop the ball.

Sometimes you just have to trust God to run His universe. Our job is to do our job.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.