Daniel 1:1-21

Daniel and his friends are a shining example of the truth that no matter how dark things may look; God always has His plans and His people in place.  As we read about the judgment of God on Israel it is easy for us to assume that there were not any faithful, God fearing people in the nation.  Daniel makes it very clear that God was still clearly at work in the lives of His people.  However, it is also an illustration of the truth that godly people suffer under the consequences of the sins of the nations in which they live.  As believers we are to be salt and light and try to provide a preserving influence on our cultures.  By God’s grace we may impact the culture and turn people from their sin but we cannot allow the culture to contaminate us so that we lose our influence on the people we should be impacting.  Daniel was greatly used of God in the midst of multiple perverse cultures.  This first chapter gives us a very good insight as to why that was.

DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES: It could not have been easy for Daniel and his friends, likely teenagers or very young adults, to be taken away from their homes and families and hauled off as spoils of war to a foreign nation.  They were the brightest and the best in their lands and I am sure had many hopes and dreams; but God had other plans.  It would have been very easy for them to become bitter and begin to question God about what He was doing and even to abandon their convictions because of their difficult circumstances.  They found themselves in a strange land, speaking a strange language, with strange culture and worship; but they would not use their difficulties as an excuse.  God will often put us in the most difficult of circumstances just when He is about to use us in the most effective ways.  Unfortunately, too many times we become discouraged in times of difficulty and are not as productive as we could or should be.  God uses hard times to build strong men to do great things for Him.

DETERMINED CHARACTER: If there was ever a time when it would have been easy to compromise standards; this was it.  Daniel and his friends were far from home under the authority of a foreign king and was not really in a place to do things as they wished.  It would have been very easy for them to simply go with the flow and do what everyone else was doing.  This was not in their character.  They were determined not to be defiled before God and were convinced that their faithfulness to God would protect them from the furry of men.  They were right.  They asked to be given only vegetables and water in place of the meats and wine they were being offered and then be put to the test.  The fear of man will often cause us to forget the fear of the Lord.  When we concern ourselves with God’s will He is faithful to provide for us before men.  God grants us favor when we live in light of His Word and have a determined character to obey Him even in the most difficult of circumstances.

DIVINE CAPABILITIES: Three years of training and living in the fear of the Lord passed and Daniel, his three friends and all the other captives were brought before the king.  The four men with the determined character in the midst of difficult circumstances were given divine capabilities.  They were not only at the top of the class of captives, but were found to be ten times brighter than the all of the experienced advisers in Babylon who had grown up in this language and culture.  Daniel was given the ability to interpret dreams and visions.  All of these gifts were of divine origin.  When we are called to do a task or live in a certain circumstance, God is always faithful and completely able to provide all that is needed to be able to accomplish that task.  We can go forward with great confidence in our service for the Lord, not because we are great; but because we serve a great and powerful God who can always meet every need in every circumstance.