Daniel 2:37-38 — “Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.” (NLT)
I keep reading these verses over and over. Something about how Daniel talked to King Nebuchadnezzar gets me every time.
This was the most powerful man in the world. He had armies that could destroy entire countries. He built cities that people still remember thousands of years later. He ruled everything. And Daniel stood in front of him and said something really interesting.
“You are the greatest of kings.”
Okay, that sounds like a compliment. But then Daniel said five more words that changed everything.
“The God of heaven has given you…”
Those five words. I cannot stop thinking about them. Because Daniel was telling this powerful king something really clear: everything you have? God gave it to you. Your power? From God. Your strength? From God. Your big kingdom? From God.
Everything.
I Forget This All the Time
When things are going well in my life, I forget where it all comes from.
When I work hard on something and it turns out good, I feel proud. I think, “I did that.” When people say nice things about my work, I like it. When good things happen to me, I think it is because I earned it somehow. When I look at what I have done, I feel good about myself.
But then I read what Daniel said to the king, and I realize I am wrong. I take credit for things that were never really mine. I start thinking my success comes from my own hard work, my own smart ideas, my own skills.
The truth is harder to accept. Everything I have is a gift.
My job? God opened that door for me. My abilities? God gave me those. My chances to do things? God set those up. Even the energy I have each day to get up and work comes from Him. The air I breathe is not something I made. The brain I use to think is not something I built myself.
I did not give myself life. I did not choose when or where I was born. I did not pick what I would be good at or what chances would come my way.
All of it—everything I call “my success”—came from God.
Babylon Did Not Build Itself
King Nebuchadnezzar ruled one of the biggest empires ever. Babylon was amazing. The walls around the city were so big that horse-drawn chariots could race on top of them. The Hanging Gardens were one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The money, the buildings, the power—it was incredible.
And if you just looked at it from a human view, it made sense to give the king all the credit. He was the boss. He gave the orders. He made the decisions. He led the armies. Under him, Babylon became famous.
But Daniel saw something the king could not see. Or maybe something the king did not want to see.
God let all of it happen. God gave Nebuchadnezzar his job as king. God gave him the power. God gave him the success. Without God saying yes, none of it would have existed.
This part makes me uncomfortable. Because honestly, I want to believe that what I achieve is mine. I want to think I earned what I have. I worked hard. I gave up things. I stayed focused. So does that not mean I deserve the credit?
But what Daniel said cuts right through that thinking. It reminds me that even my ability to work hard is a gift. My focus? God gave me that. My chances to use my skills? God set those up. My health that lets me keep going? God keeps that going.
I am not the source of anything good in my life. God is.
The Danger of Forgetting
We humans love getting credit. We want to be noticed. We want people to say we did a good job. We want others to see what we did and tell us we did well. There is nothing wrong with working hard or feeling good about doing something well. But there is a dangerous line we cross when we start thinking we are the reason for our own success.
Pride is sneaky. It does not usually show up loud and clear. It comes in quietly. It starts with small thoughts like, “I am pretty good at this,” and then it grows into, “I do not really need help with this.” Before you know it, we forget that God is the one keeping everything together.
King Nebuchadnezzar learned this the hard way. Later in Daniel chapter 4, after Daniel warned him to be humble, the king stood on his palace roof and said, “Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.” (Daniel 4:30, NLT)
He took all the credit. He claimed all the glory. And right away—right in the middle of him bragging—God brought him down. He lost his mind and lived like a wild animal in the fields for seven years. He stayed that way until he finally admitted that God is the one who gives power and takes it away.
That story scares me. Not because I think God is waiting to punish me every time I have a proud thought. But because I see how easy it is for me to think like Nebuchadnezzar did. How naturally I forget to thank God. How quickly I start thinking I am in control of my life.
When I take credit for what God did, I am not just being proud. I am cutting myself off from where my strength comes from. I am acting like I do not need Him. And that is a dangerous place to be.
What Giving God Glory Really Means
I used to think that giving God glory meant acting like I did not work hard. Like I had to pretend I had nothing to do with my own success. But I do not think that is what it means anymore.
Giving God glory does not mean pretending I did not work hard. It means remembering who gave me the ability to work in the first place.
It is the difference between saying, “Look what I did,” and saying, “Thank You, Lord, for letting me do this.”
It is the difference between feeling proud of myself and feeling grateful to God.
When I remember that everything I have is a gift, it changes how I see both good times and bad times. When things go well, I stay humble because I know it was not all me. When things fall apart, I stay hopeful because I know God is still in charge.
I do not have to chase after people’s approval. I do not have to hold on tight to my achievements like they make me who I am. My value is not based on what I do. It is based on who I belong to.
And that gives me a kind of peace I cannot get anywhere else.
My Own Areas of Influence
God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom to rule. I do not have a kingdom. But I do have influence in my own life. I have a family. I have work. I have relationships. I have chances to serve and to lead in small ways.
And just like the king, I need to remember that the influence I have is not something I created. It is something God trusted me with.
As a school principal, I have authority over teachers and students. But that authority is not really mine. God gave it to me. And He gave it to me for a reason—to serve, to lead the right way, to point others toward Him.
When I remember that, it changes how I use my influence. I stop trying to make myself look good and start asking, “How can I show people what God is like in this job?”
When I succeed, I give Him the credit. When I fail, I trust that He is still working. Either way, it is not about me. It is about Him.
The Heart Behind the Reminder
At the end of the day, what Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar was not just about power. It was about being responsible for what God gives you.
God gives. God allows. God lifts people up. And God gets the glory.
That truth makes me feel small. But it also comforts me. Because if everything I have comes from God, then I do not have to carry the weight of making it all happen myself. I do not have to panic when things do not go my way. I do not have to fight for credit or for people to notice me.
I just have to trust the One who gave it all in the first place.
So whenever I am celebrating a win or reaching a goal, I want to stop. I want to pause and remember the truth that Daniel said thousands of years ago.
“Lord, this came from You. Not just from my hard work. Not from my smart thinking or my good planning. From You. You gave me the ability. You opened the door. You made this possible. So I give You the glory. Because everything I have is Yours.”
That is how I want to live. Not being proud of what I did. But being grateful for what God let me do.
Because at the end of the day, I am not the head of gold. I am just someone who has been given more than I deserve. And the only right thing to do is say, “Thank You.”