August 26-27 - Esteemed

“My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king” - Daniel 6:22

The ex-American baseball player Dave Dravecky, following his battle with cancer wrote: 'I have discovered that a person's true worth is found in who he or she is before God, not in what he or she does. And when we make that discovery, the world opens up like never before.'

Drunk drivers, irresponsible friends and corrupt leaders – all of these can cause innocent people to suffer. The Bible provides numerous examples of righteous men and women who suffered at the hands of others. Daniel for example, spent his life in captivity (some scholars believe he was made into a eunuch by his Babylonian captors) and often was threatened with death-even though he is one of the most upright and pious men in Scriptures.

There's great comfort in knowing that God will use anything- even the wickedness of humankind-to fulfill his purposes. Daniel suffered greatly, but still chose to honour God throughout his captivity. His actions were to eventually lead him to a position of leadership, while still in captivity. This position, and his life-style example enabled him to display God's power and faithfulness to a watching world. God used Daniel's difficulties to work for good.

Sometimes, the excellence of a jewel can best be seen when it's placed against a dark background. We listen to the news reports, and look at social media sites reporting events and conditions around the world, and it would be easy to think that God doesn't care as all we see and hear is suffering and tears. We can't understand why God doesn't act. Yet it's this very background of darkness, both global and personal, that makes it time for us to reach out for the jewel that blazes even more brilliantly, simply because of the darkness our world is in.

Yes, God may have allowed grief to invade our world and lives for a little while, but His compassion and unfailing love for us will never fail.

God called Daniel “highly esteemed” because he first highly esteemed God by the way he lived. “Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed” he said. “Peace! Be strong now, be strong” - Daniel 10:19

(Acknowledgements “365 Days of Hope.”)

“One Voice/Where No-one Stands Alone (medley)” - the Gaither Vocal Band. Click on the picture to listen