Listening Well

How much does it take to get the message in sometimes? And WHY does it take that much? I am reading a passage I have written about before- Daniel 4:19-22. It is in the middle of a longer passage I will summarize, but not try to quote here. But this specific section says "Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies! “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth."
If this was the only dream, the only prophetic situation Nebuchadnezzar ever found himself IN, then maybe we could forgive him. Doubt can be pretty strong sometimes. We can doubt those who help us understand. We could simply forget.
But this is NOT the only such situation, is it? Even if you are no Daniel scholar, you probably remember the highlights so far. Nebuchadnezzar demanded his advisors (that is what magicians means in this case) tell him his own dream. No one had ever been asked THAT...yet Daniel nailed the dream down to the finest details AND interpreted it. Then...Nebby warped he dream into idolatry...but we won't go into that now. 
Next was the whole 'three...no FOUR guys in the fire" experience where Nebuchadnezzar realizes that God is in charge...not him, and that God can work the impossible. Daniel, over this time, is made Neb's chief advisor, the governor of the main, capital territory of the empire, and is given power to promote people in his territory as he pleases. Big stuff!
Then we get into chapter four and Neb even STARTS the chapter by remembering how cool Daniel's abilities under God are. He plays the story back, if you will. THen...we get into THIS vision about the tree. He shares it, of course, with the guy who nailed the last big dream and who has been a good advisor so far...and Daniel tells him that this vision is SERIOUS. Daniel wishes it could apply to Nebuchadnezzar's enemies, not the king himself. 
We didn't read the whole thing, but the simple point is that Nebby is going to become proud, and need a reminder of the power and place of God as King of Kings. Terrible things would happen to bring about that reminder. Neb would lose his mind, think he was one of the cattle, and eat grass. This would last for SEVEN YEARS. Yes, he would get his mind back, yes, he would remain king, but seven years is a good chunk of any life! The warning was for pride, and Daniel DOES kind of tell Neb to watch out for that.
The warning holds for...a year. Then, Nebby looks at his city and gets all inflated in the head...until it pops and he goes nuts. Why didn't he remember? Did the situation, the warning, seem unlikely? Did he think he was too powerful a ruler to have THAT happen? He was, after all, the "head of gold." Did he suddenly doubt his chief advisor? Was it political pressure? 
WHo knows. But, the message did NOT stick, and Nebby had to get used to grass casserole. Yuck. There is more to the story, of course, and it is worth considering. But, for us, who don't rule kingdoms and probably don't have national treasures telling us God's will and warnings, for us who won't be joining the cows anytime soon, what can we learn from the story? 
Well...how much will it take for US to get the messages God is trying to send US? Maybe it comes through a friend, a teacher, a worship song, a life situation, a pastor, a parent...well, from anywhere. But when it comes, will we LISTEN? Let's consider King Neb...and choose to listen!