The Daniel of the Bible was a man who “set his mind to gain understanding and to humble himself before God.”
As a young man, Daniel made a decision. He pursued God. He yielded his will completely, recognizing that God is God and a life given to His service is the only life worth living. Daniel made an extreme commitment. As a result, he experienced God in extreme ways. Once when he had spent considerable time in prayerful concern for his people, God responded by sending an angelic messanger. This messanger greated Daniel with these words, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 10:12) If one reads the entire story, it becomes clear that Daniel spent not just a few minutes or hours in prayer over his concerns. He poured his heart out to God for three weeks with no apparent response, no answer to his questions. When the messenger does appear he informs Daniel that he had been opposed by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days. God sent an immediate response to Daniel’s prayers, but powers of this world and of darkness were also at work.
If Daniel had given up after several hours or even days, would God have called his messenger back? I can not know this, but I am inclined to wonder. Do the angels of the Lord receive marching orders based on our tenacity in prayer? If so, is it any wonder that we see so little of the miraculous in our lives. When is the last time that you spent 21 days straight in prayer? Never? Neither have I. How about 21 hours in concerted prayer? Can you claim 21 minutes of determined prayer to our Almighty God on behalf of his people?
When I was a child I learned a song in Sunday school that began with these words:
Dare to be a Daniel.
Dare to stand alone.
Dare to have a purpose firm.
Dare to make it known.
To be a Daniel means to make a decision to pursue God and to make him known . . . every minute, every day, no matter how hard, no matter how lonely, no matter the cost, no matter how long you find yourself in difficult circumstances, no matter how long you must wait to see God moving on your behalf.
Daniel’s life is characterized by purpose and perseverance. God’s response to Daniel is one of faithfulness. He delivered him from a den of lions and from enemies who set out to detroy him. Then God gave Daniel dreams that outlined his future plans for his people, for the world, and for Daniel. Daniel’s life was crowned with this final affirmation, “But you, go your way, and rest, you shall rise for your reward at the end of the days.” (Daniel 12: 13)
If Daniel were here today to share his story I’m quite confident that he would tell us that it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it to make his life mission to pursue God.
I want to be a Daniel. How about you?
you bet…now more than ever!