July 4, 2011

Could Daniel have missed out on his?

I just read Daniel chapters 1-3 this morning and began to see this story in a new light. Let me give you a little recap first. Earlier Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s portions of food and wine which went against his convictions. He was allowed to do this and shown favor. The important thing here is that he purposed in his heart to give God 100% regardless of the surrounding circumstances and he had to say something to the guards in order to be given permission to do this. 

Later on King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and had the crazy idea that a wise person needed to not only tell him the interpretation of his dream, but also the dream itself. No one was able to do this so he began to murder all the wise men. Daniel was one of these wise men who would eventually be targeted. He asked why the king was killing the wise men off so urgently and then he got the low down.

Daniel requested time from the king over this matter so that he could come back and interpret the dream. Daniel was confident and basically told the king that he would provide an interpretation but that he just needed some more time. He called on his buddies Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego to pray with him concerning the matter, that God would reveal to him the king’s dream. 

Daniel believed that God was more than capable of providing the answer, although up to that point Daniel had heard absolutely nothing. At that point the only thing Daniel had was faith that God would come through and friendship with others to pray for the same. He believed that if he put himself out on a line, took a huge risk for God, that God just had to come through.

After Daniel had asked the king for time, believed God would come through, mobilized his prayer warriors, and then called upon God for the answer, “the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision (2:19).” It was when Daniel was sleeping that God gave him the answer. He presented it to the king, making sure to clarify that it was God that revealed these things to him. The king very pleased with the answer and did 2 things: “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 the 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. (2:47-48).

Through Daniel taking a risk to go before the king with an answer that He believed God would provide in time, he saved many wise men (himself and his friends included), brought a fresh revelation of God’s glory to the reigning king at that time, and was honored by God and the king with promotion.

I wonder how differently this story might have turned out if Daniel had never responded to the stirrings within his heart or if he hesitated. What if he never asked the king for time? What if he looked at the reality that he did not have the interpretation and let the king go on with his killing? What if Daniel showed up before the king and God had not yet spoken? What if he didn’t believe that God would come through? If he decided not respond immediately to the Lord’s leading or his own convictions, could Daniel have missed out engaging in this part of his destiny?

Let us be a people that take risks towards the things we believe God is putting in our hearts, even if those things are not yet tangible or fully revealed. Let us live and breathe and walk in our full inheritance within the heavenly kingdom He has already given us.

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall crush in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” 2:44

CAN WE MISS OUT ON OUR DESTINY?

I believe that we absolutely can, but it’s my heart that none of us ever does! Over a series of Live Destiny blog entries, I am going to demonstrate this as well as provide some helpful encouragements so that we do not miss out but rather engage in and thrive in our full destinies.

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY TO WALK INTO OUR DESTINY

A generation of Israelites missed out on their destiny (Read Numbers 13-14)

Just as the Israelites who died in the desert missed out on their full destiny, so can we if we do not quickly respond to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. The generation of the Israelites who died in the desert stopped short of walking in their God-given inheritance. They had a window of time where they could have chosen God’s perspective and trusted in His leading but they allowed themselves to be crippled by fear, even seeking to stone the only two, Joshua and Caleb, who actually believed in God’s destiny for them. It wasn’t until after the Israelites got rebuked and schooled from God by their stoning behaviour towards His appointed leaders that they finally came to their senses. 

BUT IT WAS TOO LATE

By the time the Israelites finally realized that their destiny truly was beyond the giants and within the Promised Land, they set out to respond to God’s earlier call on their lives. Only by this time, the window of opportunity had already passed them by. Yes, they finally were ready to fight and overcome these giants but now it was too late. They missed God’s heartbeat because of a wrong perspective and not being ready to respond immediately to His leading. They had their sights set on the giants in front of them blocking their true destiny, rather than on God who could have moved them into their true destinies.

REAL GIANTS

The giants in the Promised Land were real and the giants we have to fight through to take hold of our destiny are real. The credit crunch is real, rejection is real, misunderstanding is real, but if God really is over all and if He is leading us somewhere, the surrounding circumstances are irrelevant, powerless in comparison with His greatness. Regardless of what giants we currently face, God is greater.

WHAT IF?

If the Israelites of that generation had trusted in and believed that God wanted the best for them and responded to God’s earlier call to fight and enter the Promised Land, would they have gained the victory? What if they all had rallied behind Joshua and Caleb in full support of overcoming the giants, would they have thrived in the Promised Land and had a different end to their story? What does this story say to us about the importance of not only saying Yes to God when He leads, but the importance of responding in the moment as well? A generation’s destiny hung on a thread, on a moment. What would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. did not respond to where God was leading him at the time to fulfill his destiny? What if he would have hesitated, asked how, or lived in the fear of the giants surrounding him?

If we hesitate or struggle to respond immediately when God speaks to us, what will happen to those around us who need for us to live our destiny so that it brings a shift in their reality? May we be a people who are so close to the Father that we know His ways and can discern His voice. May we be like Joshua and Caleb, full of faith and ready to respond immediately to God as He leads into our destiny, keeping our eyes on Him who is the Author and Finisher of our true destiny.

See also "Walking by Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch".