Have you ever had a dream that didn't make any sense? What happened in it? 

If part of what makes for "longsuffering" is a sustained period of not fitting, the next question is: what's causing the poor fit? Something is always getting in the way - some dynamic, often a power dynamic, that isn't making room for everyone. That imbalance throws everything off. And unfortunately, most of the time there's no clean way to fix it. It has to be lived through for as long as it lasts.

Now that you've answered the Icebreaker, here's another question - this one, about temper tantrums.

Everybody knows how to handle a toddler's tantrum. You stay calm. You don't negotiate with the screaming. You wait it out, because you're the adult, and the toddler (bless them) has no actual power. The tantrum is loud, but it can't really cost you anything.

Now change one thing. Keep the tantrum exactly the same, the unreasonableness, the impossible demands, the "because I said so," but give the person throwing it power over you. Now it's your boss. Your landlord. The person deciding your visa, your custody arrangement, your job. Same emotional age. Very different stakes.

You can't wait this one out, you can't put them in time-out, and you definitely can't tell them what you think. Everyone around you is doing the same math you are: keep your head down, read the mood, don't be in the room when it goes bad.

In Daniel chapter 2, a king has a bad dream. And because he's a king, his bad dream becomes everybody's problem and he issues a death sentence for every wise man in Babylon over a riddle he refuses to explain. Daniel isn't even there when it happens. The tantrum just shows up at his door, with soldiers.

This power dynamic is around you all the time. Let's think about how to suffer through it with grace. 

Hopefully that makes enough sense to get you started. As you continue into the Worship portion of the Spotlight, pray this prayer together:

Lord,
You reveal mysteries and outlast kings.
You know what it costs to stay calm and kind.
Give us what you gave Daniel
and what you showed in Jesus to those who would condemn him. 
Give us peace that doesn't take orders, 
but grace that is longsuffering.
Amen.

Listen to this arrangement of Psalm 2 while taking in the text of the Psalm.

1 Why are the nations so angry? 
Why do they waste their time with futile plans? 
2 The kings of the earth prepare for battle; 
the rulers plot together 
against the Lord 
and against his anointed one. 
3 “Let us break their chains,” they cry, 
“and free ourselves from slavery to God.” 
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs. 
The Lord scoffs at them. 
5 Then in anger he rebukes them, 
terrifying them with his fierce fury. 
6 For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne 
in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.” 
7 The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: 
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. 
Today I have become your Father. 
8 Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 
the whole earth as your possession. 
9 You will break them with an iron rod 
and smash them like clay pots.’ ” 
10 Now then, you kings, act wisely! 
Be warned, you rulers of the earth! 
11 Serve the Lord with reverent fear, 
and rejoice with trembling. 
12 Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry, 
and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities— 
for his anger flares up in an instant. 
But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

This setting of the Psalm focuses on the power God holds. It portrays the core of the Psalm very nicely. Did you notice, though, that the Psalm comes from a frustration with power?

Here is a modern prayer with that at heart. Pray it together.

A Prayer of Anger:
To the God whose holy anger heals;
To the Messiah whose righteous anger overcomes evil; 
To the Spirit who keeps our angers from turning destructive: 
Receive our wounded hearts;
Take our burning words;
Protect us from the desire for revenge.
May our righteous angers become fuel for justice in our fractured world 
and for the mending of broken relations in our neighborhoods and homes. 
For God’s sake—and ours—we pray.
Amen.

Read through Daniel 2. It's kind of long, so it would be good to share the reading among your group!

Daniel 2:1–49
2 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers  to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”
4 Then the astrologers answered the king,  “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”
10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49 Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Use these questions to discuss what you read.

1. Look at verses 1–13 again. Trace how the king's private problem (a troubling dream) becomes a public catastrophe. At what points could someone have de-escalated it (and why does no one even try?)
2. The wise men tell the king his demand is impossible: "no one can show it to the king except the gods" (v. 11). They're right, and it nearly gets them killed. What's the difference between how they respond to the tantrum and how Daniel responds to it in verses 14–16?
3. Daniel answers Arioch (the man sent to execute him) "with prudence and discretion" (v. 14). What do you notice about what Daniel does first, second, and third after the decree reaches him (vv. 14–18)? What's conspicuously missing from his response?

The Interpretation

4. Daniel's prayer in verses 20–23 praises a God who "removes kings and sets up kings" prayed while an unhinged king still holds the sword over him. What does it do to a person to believe that line before the crisis resolves rather than after?
5. When Daniel finally stands before Nebuchadnezzar, he takes no credit (vv. 27–30) and doesn't flatter, but he also doesn't shame the king. How does Daniel manage to tell the truth to power without either groveling or provoking?

Application (Your Babylon)

6. Everyone in this room lives under some power they can't argue with, be it a boss, an institution, a system, maybe a person at home. Where do you feel most like the wise men in verse 11: trapped between an impossible demand and no safe way to say so?
7. Daniel's first move was to ask for time, and his second was to gather friends and pray (vv. 16–18). When the tantrum shows up at your door, what's your actual first move? What would it change to make Daniel's sequence yours?
8. The peace Daniel shows doesn't come from predicting the outcome — he asks God for the mystery, but he doesn't know he'll get it. What would it look like this week to stay calm under someone's power without knowing how your situation ends?

For today, explore the experience of the refugee by watching this video. You'll discuss things further next time.

Close with this reflective song.