I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper, plans to give you hope and a future - Jeremiah 29:11
Sounds nice doesn't it? But is it true? Really true? Doesn't life sometimes scream at the top of it's lungs that there is no master plan, no divine hope, not a prayer for tomorrows next steps? Do you ever read Scripture and just think - wow, Jeremiah obviously wasn't living my life. If God has prosperous plans for me then why is 'all of this' happening to me? Why do I struggle so much? Why is getting up in the morning so difficult? Why do I have to deal with (you fill in the blank)...again? Why am I being eaten alive?
Yet, the prophet Jeremiah boldly declared that God has good plans for us... even when it doesn't look or feel like it. As I have been studying the life of Daniel I see that he really embraced this truth and let the powerful reality of it flow through him. Early on he was torn away from his family, friends, and homeland into captivity. Does that sound like a plan to prosper Daniel? But it is - he ends up being one of King Nebuchadnezzar's most trusted advisors. After a long career (aprox 70yrs) in the Babylonia political scène Daniel is ready for retirement. And one wild party later the Empire falls in a single night under the armies of Cyrus the Persian. It looks like Daniel's pension is toast. But for some reason the new King Darius (who may have been Cyrus himself) takes notice of Daniel. He likes him. Enough so to consider putting this emerging, expansive Empire under Daniel's control. Now that sounds like Blessing!
But it doesn't always sound like our lives. I think we often identify more with Daniel's dinner date with the lions. Living our lives in relative righteousness, minding our own business and ending up as appetizers. We wonder "why?" Yet, this is not the response of Daniel. We know that he was saved from his feline friends and he makes it clear that it was because of his trust in the Living God who had a plan to prosper him.
I think we (I) need to be more like Daniel. To get his view on life. To know that God is for us. He loves us. He is a good Father who intends the best for us. He will bless us and in fact He will even use us to bless others. We see that even in Daniel's life. During that first year of testifying God's goodness to Cyrus a radical shift occurs. After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple. God has a plan. It is good. It is immensely complex and sometimes unclear to us. But be assured it is good, it will bring blessing to you and many beyond. Embrace it, hope in in, expect the unexpectable. One day all will be fully revealed at the final Dinner Date.
