What a spirit-filled 37 days of prayer we just finished. I know everyone who followed along in the Book of Daniel during this time was truly blessed. Daniel has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible. From the lifelong children’s stories of the Lion’s den and four men in the fire to the grown-up version of staying true to your faith. You could spend a lot of time, longer than even 37 days, studying the life of Daniel. I want to share some of my thoughts with you and pray those thoughts help you find peace and comfort in your own life.
The book of Daniel starts out with him and his friends being captured and then “selected” to serve in the king’s service. Imagine Daniel and his friends sitting on the steps of the temple in Jerusalem, talking about what they want to be when they grow up, laughing and enjoying life. Young men, with the future wide open to them, living the dream in their beloved city. In the blink of an eye, they are captured and taken into captivity, their home and temple destroyed before their eyes. The life they thought they would live, is no longer an option for them. They are now in a foreign land, being asked to go against all they believe in.
Are you living the life you always thought you would live? Did you find yourself “living the dream,” only to come upon a mountain that could not be moved?
There are so many examples in the Bible of people whose paths were suddenly changed with no choice in the circumstances. In Genesis 37, we find a young man full of life and spirit named Joseph. A future was laid out for him by a father who adored him, but brothers who did not. The life he thought he would live ended when he was sold into slavery and set upon a very difficult journey.
In Luke 8, we see the story of a woman with a blood issue. It doesn’t tell us the backstory of this woman, but we can imagine she had a family. A home. She went to the well every day and visited with the other women of the town. She cooked dinner, laughed with her husband, and played games with her kids. Then one day she began to bleed.
For the next 12 years, she dealt with a medical issue. One that made her “unclean” to the community. She lost her family, home, and her way of life. She spent all she had trying to get well, but no doctor could help her.
We find another story of two men who had lost all hope in Luke 24. These two men had followed Jesus for the last few years, believing him to be the man to save Israel. The life they dreamed and believed in ended on a Friday afternoon at 3 pm when they heard Jesus say, “It is finished” and died. The only thing left to them was to go home and on resurrection Sunday, they started their walk back to their hometown of Emmaus.
I believe every one of us comes upon situations in our lives that completely change our well-thought-out future. It could be a medical issue, like the woman. Maybe a new place with obstacles that test your faith, like Daniel. For many, it is a total loss of hope, like the two men on the road to Emmaus. I would imagine we all have experienced “family issues” like Joseph. So, what makes all these stories come together? Every one of them, including our own stories, had an encounter with God.
“What they intended for harm; I will change for good.”
“Woman, your faith has made you well.”
“Their eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread.”
If we are walking this earth, our lives will change.
In 1984, I lost my husband in a car accident. We had been married 13 years and my plan for my life was to have at least 50 more years with him. That all changed in a matter of seconds on a dark and wet road in the wee hours of the morning. Out of that loss, 3 years later, I remarried and had a wonderful son and a good life. We may not be living the life we “dreamed of or planned for” but I can promise you, God will bring beauty out of our ashes.
It’s funny when you think of Daniel. In the end, after 70 years in captivity, he was allowed to go home. Back to Jerusalem. Did he go? No, he decided to stay and serve God in that foreign country.
God will strengthen you and always bless you when you bloom where you are planted.