stuck on a verse

I'm hopelessly stuck on a verse in Daniel. Well, perhaps not hopelessly stuck. Maybe desperately, hopefully stuck is a better way to say it. And it's partially the fault of Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner.

I've mentioned before that I periodically read parts of their Leadership Challenge - a great book to make leaders think about leading (something we all do far too infrequently). Much of the book centers around pondering one's own best leadership experience and then gleaning lessons from that time in your own life, with questions like "What did it feel like?" and "How did you respond to conflict in this time?"

It's impossible to get anything out of the book without first determining your personal best season of leadership, and once you land on that, the applications are voluminous. I've been pondering my own personal best season, and against that backdrop, I run smack into Daniel 10:7 & 8b.


I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themseleves. So I was left alone...

Daniel's encounter must have been terifying to the others - even though they didn't really see it. Something about the look in his eye, the wildness of the moment and the reality that they didn't really understand caused them to run for the hills. Then, with the hangers-on gone, the Angel touched him and began to lay out a vision that would span 3 chapters on paper and centuries in time - some which is yet to be fulfilled. The vision was huge - and Daniel saw it alone.

I'm fasting and praying for such a vision. Not necessarily some sort of transcendental encounter (although it certainly would make for interesting blogging) but a vision from God that scares those around me. My personal best times of leadership were wild moments - times when I had a certain look in my eye...and that look drove away more than one person who liked the idea of vision but couldn't stomach the reality of the vision I was having.

Give me vision, God. Even if I'm left alone. I'd rather see Your reality and launch towards it with all my strength than mutter along with the masses in complacent codependency.