A Platform for Testimony
Scripture Reading: Daniel 4

Today’s Treasure: “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me” (Daniel 4:2).

Daniel 4 draws an unforgettable image of what can happen to a human—no matter how powerful, no matter the state of his relationship with God—when he allows his heart to swell with pride.  Frankly, it sends shivers up my spine.  I’ve tasted just enough of it to know that I never want another bite.  I don’t even want to smell the scent of it cooking.  I’ll take as many refresher courses as God’s Word teaches.  Anything to keep from taking another field trip through my own experience! 

Nebuchadnezzar shares his testimony of a hard lesson learned in Daniel 4.  No one rich or poor, powerful or oppressed, healthy or infirm, enslaved or free, male or female, old or young, from east or west, of color or not, is exempt from the temptation to dangerous pride.  The king’s audience was universal.  “To the peoples…who live in all the world.”  Pride is not a circumstance.  It’s a state of mind.

Nebuchadnezzar’s proclamation came from the vantage point of hindsight.  In other words, he issued his testimony to “the peoples…in all the world” after his sanity was restored.  Somewhat tongue in cheek, I’d like to suggest that the best time for a public testimony tends to be after we’re thinking straight again.  I have heard and unfortunately given some testimonies at times of such naked emotion that the recipients may have been more horrified than edified.  At the very least, they were confused by the ramblings of a woman who had not yet dealt with the situation enough to get her own clarity from God.  Let alone make sense of it to an audience.  If you’ve heard premature testimonies, you might agree that a platform for testimony is sturdiest when built over a little time spent healing. 

We are wise to be particularly careful about sharing testimonies of a sexual nature (whether in the context of past sin or abuse) in groups of both men and women.  Author Norman Grubb suggests using “veiled language” in mixed company, calling to my mind the veil that once hung between men and women in the synagogues.  While no veil hangs between our places of worship now, the concept of veiled language creates a memorable image for appropriate times. 

Please note Nebuchadnezzar’s wording in verse 2: “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me” (emphasis mine).  Nebuchadnezzar’s newfound humility was already showing.  You see, in order to testify to God’s greatness and power, he had to show himself foolish.  Indeed, beastly.  Recently I read Psalm 73:21-22 in Today’s English Version, and its wording invited me to relate to Nebuchadnezzar.  “When my thoughts were bitter and my feelings were hurt, I was as stupid as an animal.”  I may not have looked as animal-like as Nebuchadnezzar, but I have acted as stupid as an animal over my bitterness and hurt.  Do I have any company in this?

We’re tempted not to ‘fess up, but sometimes others around us need to know there is life after foolishness or failure.  For hearers to think as highly as they out of God, Nebuchadnezzar risked their thinking lowly of him.  Still, he gave the testimony with pleasure.  As will be true of others toward us, we’re never more impressed with Babylon’s king than when he was least impressed with himself. 

Are we as willing to take the risk of looking foolish to share a powerful testimony?  Have we not seen God “high and lifted up” most often when our self-exaltation tumbled down?  Our greatest purpose in life is to glorify God: to make Him famous in our lands.  Isaiah 26:8 says it perfectly: “Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.”  A testimony is a powerful way to make God famous in our sphere of influence.  In order to do their jobs, our testimonies must be carefully filtered of subtle and sometimes accidental self-glorifications.  You may have heard a testimony that left you wondering whether God or the giver was exalted.  I would be horrified if someone thought that of me after I shared my testimony.  Wouldn’t you?

Melissa, my youngest daughter, took a look at my Bible one day and said, “Mom! Get a new Bible!  Yours looks like you study it a lot!”  You see, we can even unintentionally give a lofty impression of ourselves to others with well-worn Bible study tools!  We never want a listener or a watcher to wonder who we intended to look big. 

At the same time, in our attempt to humble ourselves and willingly look foolish, we can get too graphic and still take the attention away from God.  “Over-sharing” can also have a strong tendency to glorify man rather than God.  You see, the essence of giving glory is drawing attention.  If our testimonies are so graphic that they steal the attention from the point (God’s greatness), they cheat Him of glory, however unintentionally.  Keep in mind that Nebuchadnezzar’s season of insanity in all likelihood lasted seven years, yet he described it in one paragraph (see v. 33).  Some of us, yours truly included, would have written a mini-series!  Nebuchadnezzar told us just enough to convey the seriousness of his estate, strike the fear of God in us, and magnify the throne of heaven. 

T.M.I.  Some testimonies simply contain too much information.  If a detail will paint a graphic picture in permanent ink in the listener’s head, we might need to leave it out.  We want one thing permanently painted on the mind of our listener: the greatness of God.

Lord, I praise You for the testimony You’ve given me to glorify You with!  Please give me the wisdom to present it in an effective, humble, and appropriate way.  Holy Spirit, give me the discernment to know what would be beneficial to share or to veil.  Make my heart willing and glad to share what You’ve done in my life.  Please alert me to any form of pride that may creep in.  I pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Adapted from Daniel, by Beth Moore, pages 71-74.  Nashville: LifeWay Press, 2006.  Used by permission.