S) "17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter."
Daniel 2:17 (NASB)
O) Daniel and his friends were among the first exiles into Babylon. They were taken, specifically, to be retrained in Babylonian culture, to serve Nebuchadnezzar. That was a three year process, and then some time after they had officially entered service in their new role, their new king had an alarming dream. To authenticate the interpretation of his dream, the king commanded that the wise men who served him must first tell him what he dreamt. Because they could not, and he believed they were stalling in order to conspire with each other about how they might answer, he instead elected to simply kill all of his wise men (spiritual advisors, astrologers, etc.). When the captain of the king's bodyguard came to arrest and execute Daniel, he replied with discretion and discernment (v.14). After buying just a little bit of time, Daniel's next step was to call in some back up. He didn't panic, or fight, or flee. He got together with his friends, the men who had been with him since the exile. He had already seen these men stand with him, when they elected not to eat the king's portion (chapter 1). They got together and they sought the LORD, and they worshiped God, and they asked for His compassion and guidance.
A) There are many things from Daniel's life, that serve as blueprints for how to live a godly, devoted, faithful life. In this small snapshot, the part that jumped out to me immediately, was his dependence on his friends. Here was a man, taken from his family, from his home, from everything he knew. He connected with three other men through a common struggle, a common faithfulness, and a common God. After some time working together, living together, and learning together, when a life and death situation arose, he knew right where to go. He knew immediately, who it was that would seek God with him. I am apart from my family. I am apart from my home, from the people and places I knew. I need to get myself more connected with some men here. I should exercise some amount of patience, because I know that strong, godly relationships take time, but they also take intentional investment. I don't want to go to church week in and week out, and just worship a little, hear a message, and then return home with just my wife and kids. I need to seek some men who can grow with me. I need to foster some relationships, find some men who have some common experiences, who take their faithfulness to God as seriously as I do. I need to connect to some men who also call Jesus their Lord. Then, as we grow together, and I learn to call them brothers, then when calamity strikes I will know where to go. I will know the men who will pray and seek God with me, who will ask for His compassion in my life, who will worship Him for what He has done for us.
P) Father, thank You for answering my prayer, and bringing me to Montana. Thank You for hastening the days to get my family here with me. They are only a week away, now, and it's starting to feel real. Thank You for blessing me, and keeping me, and getting me this far. Father God, I need some brothers here. I need some men on whom I can depend, to lift me up in prayer, to seek Your will with me. I need to be that man to some other men, too. Father God, please prepare these relationships for me; prepare encounters with brothers and sisters, that Kristin and I can begin to build those relationships that You intend with Your family, with Your children. I want to be a solid, dependable, loving brother, and I need that in my life, too. Let Your will be done here, as in heaven. Let me find and build these relationships, that they would honor You and glorify Your Son. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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