Dear friend,

We are halfway through the year, and time is just flying by, isn’t it? I pray your year has been so blessed and filled with the Lord’s goodness, but even if it has been difficult so far, I am excited to be writing to you today, because I’m going to talk to you about something that will help you walk in peace and authority, even in the hard times.

You’ve probably heard people talk about how the brain is the control center of your whole life, but as Christians, what we really want is for the Holy Spirit to be the control center. Without Him, our minds can lead us so off-track and make us so fearful, angry, or stressed. But with Him at the center, we have something inside of us that is so powerful for taking captive the harmful thoughts that the enemy sends our way: self-control.

I have an amazing story for you today that is going to show you just how effective self-control is in causing our minds to think right, and that is the story of Daniel.

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When Daniel was a young man, he and his friends were taken as captives to Babylon, but because they were obedient to the Lord, they ended up getting promoted to serve the king among his many wise men.

The story I want to share with you starts one day when the king had a dream that started to haunt him. He couldn’t remember what it was, so of course he couldn’t figure out what it meant, and soon, he was losing sleep because he was so troubled by this dream, so he called his soothesayers, magicians, and wise men and commanded them, “Tell me what the interpretation of my dream is.”

They answered him, “Of course. Just tell us what your dream is, and we’ll give you the interpretation.”

That was not the answer that the king wanted to hear, and he told those men, “If you don’t tell me the interpretation of my dream, then I’m going to destroy all the wise men in Babylon.”

Well, none of those wise men and magicians could even tell him what his dream was, so the Bible tells us, “For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them”  (Daniel 2:12-13).

I want you to picture this situation: The decree had gone out, and the guards were already killing all these men and burning down their houses, and then the king’s captain came to Daniel’s door, maybe with an axe ready to kill him, but in the midst of that terrifying experience, the Bible says, “Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:14).

Friend, what kind of self-control is that? Someone was standing there threatening Daniel’s life and everything he owned, and he answered, not with fear or confusion, but with counsel and wisdom! He was even able to say, “Let me go talk to the king. I’ll ask him for a little more time to get that interpretation.”

This wasn’t an easy thing to do, friend. If he didn’t come back with that interpretation, he and his friends were going to die horribly! Daniel didn’t even have the Holy Spirit on the inside of him like we do, but he was still able to operate from that place of self-control and trust in the Holy Spirit on the outside of him. If he could do it, then why do we think that we can’t?

What I love about this story is that it also shows us the amazing things we open ourselves up to when we are moving in self-control. Daniel 2:19 tells us that when Daniel and his friends sought the Lord for the answer, “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Notice that at the end of that verse, Daniel blessed God. Sometimes when we are looking for answers, we are in such a rush that when the answer actually comes, we just move on with it, and we don’t really stop to thank Him. But with self-control, we can take the time to stop and intentionally bless and praise the God who gives us what we need.

Something else that comes with self-control is humility. After receiving the answer, Daniel went to the king with all boldness and confidence and told him, “I have what you need.” He was able to tell the king in detail what the dream was and what each part of it meant. He did an amazing thing, and yet he was so humble about it. He said, “But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart” (Daniel 2:30).

When we are acting in self-control, we don’t have to say, “Oh, yes, I am the brilliant one. I am the smartest person alive.” Instead we can say, like Daniel, “I’m not the smartest person alive, but this has been revealed to me. This is a mercy to me and my friends, and it’s not because we’re so great.” It’s so wonderful that we don’t have to carry the pressure of finding all the answers!

The last thing I want to show you about self-control is the amazing way that it allows us to be used by God. As we read the interpretation that Daniel gives, we see that this dream that God gave to this wicked king was the culmination of the ages. It was an amazing revelation, and He trusted Daniel to deliver it.

Why did He trust Daniel? First of all, because Daniel was committed to following the Lord’s ways (see Daniel 1:8). Secondly, because Daniel had such self-control and trust in the Lord — so much that he was able to answer a man who was coming to kill him with wisdom and counsel! Friend, when we operate in self-control, God is able to trust us to do such amazing things.

If you have things that are coming against you — if you are in a threatening situation or even just struggling with a difficult relative or coworker — I want you to remember Daniel and his self-control. He was able to step into amazing authority when he walked in self-control, and we can do that too. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us clearly, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When you and I take advantage of and acknowledge what God has given us in our spirits, every enemy that comes against us has to move out of the way!

If you feel unable to move in this self-control that the Holy Spirit has put in you, I hope you will contact our prayer team and let us pray for you. Just call 1.844.473.6637 or email denisesocial@renner.org, and we will be happy to pray for renewed confidence, fresh provision, or whatever else you might need in your life right now.

I also want to invite you to my weekly program, TIME With Denise Renner. Right now, I am in the middle of a series called How Can I Love Others Better?, and I would love to share it with you and see what God is going to do in your life through it. You can watch Mondays at 7 AM CT on both Facebook and YouTube, or on just Facebook Wednesdays at 12 PM CT. You can also find my teachings any time by visiting renner.org. I can’t wait to see how the Lord moves through this time together!

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner