Read Daniel 1:17-21
While it’s not my intent to go off on a tangent about the spiritual gifts God gives to us, it does apply when we think about our own superpower. That power is fueled by the same source for each of us, the Holy Spirit.
Daniel didn’t know the Holy Spirit yet, but he must have wondered how he and three other men had been given such favor from God. That favor then resulted in approval from man, too. You don’t have the respect and trust of leadership without being special. Daniel was indeed that.
The theme in this reading should be “God Gave,” because that’s exactly what’s happening. The superpowers Daniel and these men had were “given” by God. In that way, I see them like the spiritual gifts we talk about receiving from God still today.
Just as God had a plan for Daniel and his friends to use their superpowers, God has a plan for us with ours. Daniel’s job was to be God’s shining light to the leadership of their foreign captor, a warrior king whom God had helped be victorious. Whether Babylon realized where their victory had come from or not didn’t matter to God. God just wanted to make sure his own faithful ones were in plain sight.
What’s God’s plan for you? It seems like we circle back to this question a lot. I suppose that’s because it wasn’t until recently that I feel like I’ve finally arrived at my destination, the place God has been preparing for me to fully serve the kingdom. The alignment is uncanny, it has to be God. It’s my hope and prayer for you that you find that peace, too, knowing you’re right where God wants you to be.
God placed Daniel and these other three men into positions of authority so he would have influence of his faithfulness in full view of the captor, Babylon. The life Daniel lived in the “royal service” for those seventy years of captivity would have looked a lot different to lives lived by other faithful ones. How much better off they all were to have Daniel and company in the ruler’s midst. That was all God.
Let’s pray. LORD, thank you for showing me the condensed version of Daniel’s life. You equipped him exactly how he needed to be prepared for what was to come. I know you’ve done the same for me as I look back on my life. Thank you for the honor to serve you and live the life you have chosen for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
