~The grand HOOPLA~

Luvin the title! One may wonder what "hoopla" means. Lolll, the first time I came across the word, it was on this gigantic card I bought for a friend whilst planning her 20th surprise birthday party, and I made everyone sign off on it. It just seemed like an exciting word, and the card said 'happy birthday' in the middle so I kinda figured out that I was on the right track.

"Hoopla" can be defined as 'sensational or extravagant publicity/celebration/glorification.' It is a synonym of the word 'promotion.' A feeling of euphoria when you've done something good in the public eye, and u're very elated, and you indeed get approval from people who have the power to raise you to a higher position amongst your peers.

There was someone in the Bible who got an extreme HOOPLA...his name was Daniel, renamed as Beltshazzar by the king of his time, king Nebuchadnezzar. And that leads me to the shocked state I am in this morning, as I just read the last line in the chapter. I just could not believe my eyes. Ok, the story in daniel chapter 2 was that the king had a very disturbing dream and he called all the wise men, astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers to interprete the dream. But the catch was he wanted them to tell him what he dreamt before they interpreted it, so that he'll know whether they were fake or not. They begged and pleaded for the king to tell them the dream first so that they could interprete, but the king demanded that they were liars since they could not tell him the dream first. Until Daniel walked into the picture and saved the day...he inquired from His God (my God) who tells deep secret things to His sons and daughters, and in the night God told Daniel the dream, and Daniel called God, "the Revealer of deep and secret things."

But what is my point? My point is that this was a shocking day for the whole of the kingdom, and there was indeed a lot of "HOOPLA," in the air (a boisterous excitement and sensational publicity for Daniel). But I dare say that the most shocking line was the last line in the last paragraph...

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon...but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

Listen to this..."But Daniel SAT in the GATE of the king". In those days, anyone who sat at the GATE and not even inside the king's court was considered to be the least in the kingdom. So Daniel's sitting at the gate showed how despite all the promotion, gifts, and hoopla he received from the king...the way to more promotion is to be more humble, for he knew that it wasn't by his own power that he interpreted that dream...but by God revealing it to him at night.

How many of us at school or at our work places get carried away by all the HOOPLA made about our fine skills and character. How many of us after our promotions lord it over others who were formerly in the same boat? I know that despite the fact that Daniel went to sit at the gates (considering himself to still be a servant), as you continue reading about him, you will see that he continued to get even more promotion and more hoopla. So I dare say today that the way up is to go down first...in humility...first, we need to understand that those things we clamor for (money, riches, and fame) are given to us by God and are not as a result of our goodness or hardwork...they are gifts to us from God. There are many people who worked so hard and still are not at the level where u are today. So if we are boisterous and prideful about these things, thats when the saying "pride goes before a fall" will come into place."

"So let us celebrate with the HOOPLA, but remember the SOURCE always."