It was 605 BC. Daniel was taken captive to serve the greatest king at the time, Nebuchadnezzar. God had reached out to His people since the beginning of time, most recently through the prophet Jeremiah, but so many would not hear His cry for an intimate relationship with Him. Instead of choosing to turn their hearts toward their Creator, trusting Him, obeying Him, relying on Him, they followed their own ways. Daniel, however, was one of the exceptions who chose to serve the Living God in the face of extreme adversity and God was with him, every step of the way, making a way, working through him to display the glory of the only True King.
I wonder what Daniel felt as he travelled across the vast desert between Jerusalem and Babylon. I wonder how much he feared the unknown future awaiting him. I wonder how anxious he felt when he heard of Nebuchadnezzar’s victories over other nations, realizing Israel was bound to be next. Well, I hope he had those human emotions, because I have certainly been gripped by anxiety over an intimidatingly indiscernible future. I have been worried about the security my house represents and the realities my kids may face as the pandemic takes its course and I have felt helpless and resentful of the complete lack of control to choose the path our lives would go.
One morning I stumbled across a verse that uprooted the resentment that have taken hold in my heart. 1 John 2:15-17 says: “Do not love the world … for all that is in the world—including the pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things—these do not come from the Father but are from the world. The world is passing away, but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes, lives forever.” As I read these verses, it dawned on me that I was placing my confidence in things that are most definitely going to slip away at some point. It also made me realize that I am not placed here on earth for my own comfort, I am here to serve the Lord, even if I don’t like the circumstances or the obstacles I face. Life is not about me, it is about the living God and about His glory.
Still, dealing with uncertainty is very difficult and just this week, Antonio Damasio, in his book ‘The Feeling of What Happens’, helped me to understand why. He paints a picture of a person standing in the road when a car suddenly appears and is speeding towards him. Everything that occurs in that person’s body in a split second, is entirely automatic. The brain becomes an audience watching the information come together on stage – the visual inputs from the outside world, the body’s muscle tone and the fight or flight centre coming on alert. All the inputs create an image in the brain, helping it comprehend what is happening. It then searches its memory bank to find a similar image for comparison to initiate the proper response, in this case for the body to jump out of the way. The problem with the unknown, is that your brain has not seen that movie yet, there is no point of reference, a new image will need to be created and neural pathways forged, and you are the novice in this opening act.
So, while the neural construction is underway, it is important to remember that we do have at least two very good storehouses of information to help us. We have a vast number of images of events that at some point were uncertain futures and how God made a way and equipped us to deal with what lay ahead. The image of a trustworthy God to lean into in times of trouble is something tangible we can hold onto. We also have the examples of people like Daniel, whose stories have been recorded to encourage and guide and inspire us.
As Daniel walked across that desert, he had already lost his home and his family, and he was about to lose his name. Regardless of all that, he made the choice to serve the Lord. Daniel chose to honour God not only in what he ate, but also in what he did and what he said. It must’ve been a massive risk to even ask for a different diet than what the king had planned, but His choice to honour God and live within His will, gave him the courage he needed to speak up, and God took care of the rest. Daniel found favour, compassion and kindness with those in charge and God blessed him with physical strength, wisdom and understanding (Dan 1:9,15,17).
Daniel also persisted in prayer. He had a consistent relationship with God and cried to Him whenever he needed wisdom and guidance and intervention. God always hears our cries (Ps 3:4). When David was fleeing from Saul, he proclaimed that he found shelter and confidence in the Lord (Ps 57:1) and in Psalm 107, the writer testifies of God’s deliverance, His provision, salvation, loving-kindness and goodness. Paul reminds us to not be anxious about anything, but to pray about everything, giving thanks to the Lord, always. We can make specific requests to God and He promises to give us peace that transcends all understanding (Phil 4:6-7).
Lifting his eyes to look to God instead of being blinded by the circumstances, is what I believe gave Daniel something that helped him serve faithfully amidst adversity – a Godly perspective. Through visions and in dreams, God revealed to Daniel the frailty of even the strongest kingdoms. He showed him how worldly kings will come and go, but how God’s Kingdom will last forever (Dan 2, 7). Jesus reigns with everlasting dominion and His Kingdom will never be destroyed. He is seated in victory at the right hand of the Ancient of Days and we get to share that inheritance with our Saviour.
Life on earth can be truly hard. We face trials that sometimes feel too much to bear and temptations when we least expect it. I can understand that Paul said to the Philippians that ‘to die is gain’, but to also say ‘to live is Christ’…that is something that requires a completely different perspective. That requires us to open our eyes to see how hard times bring about endurance and patience and steadfastness (Jas 1:2-4) and how God works everything together for good according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). It requires us to seize the opportunity to live Jesus when we are out of our perceived safe spaces, so that the gospel will spread wider than our comfortable border lines.
In the last vision God gave to Daniel, the angel said that the wise shine like bright stars in a dark world. Isn’t that just so evident in Daniel’s life? God gives wisdom ungrudgingly and liberally if we only ask (Jas 1:5) and for Daniel that resulted in the most powerful king there’d be for the next four hundred years, praising and honouring the One True King. We are the light that shine brightly in this dark world when we commit our ways to the Lord, trust in Him and rely on Him (Ps 37:5). We are God’s holy, set-apart and consecrated ones with the honour of living for Christ’s glory while we are here on earth. May He flood the eyes of our hearts to see from His perspective and give us grace to stand strong and shine bright wherever He leads. May we see that there is hope in our future.
[Collage created using Pinterest images]
