I hadn’t planned on having a New Year’s resolution this year. Honestly, the thought of whether I was going to have one or not, hadn’t even entered my mind … until January second. That morning, I read this verse: “I Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.” (Daniel 8:27 NIV). This wasn’t my first encounter with this verse. A couple of days before I had read the whole chapter that ended with it. I had been troubled by the fact that a vision from the Lord could cause a person to be exhausted and ill and could leave them feeling appalled and confused. The next time I picked up my Bible and reread this verse, something else stood out to me that I hadn’t noticed before. Sandwiched between being exhausted and ill, and being appalled and confused, Daniel states a fact. “…I got up and went about the king’s business.” These words challenged me. In this instance, Daniel was referring to an earthly king, but he was just as loyal to his heavenly king, as evidenced in chapter six.
In Daniel, chapter six, when the Babylonian king, Darius, made plans to set Daniel over his whole kingdom, the other administrators came up with a plan to get rid of Daniel. They couldn’t find any grounds for charges against him in his conduct of governmental affairs, so they convinced the king to issue an edict that anyone who prayed to anyone besides the king, would be thrown into the lion’s den. Verse ten tells us Daniel’s response to the edict. “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Adversity didn’t keep Daniel from being loyal to the King of Kings.
When I read the words, “I got up and went about the king’s business,” in chapter eight, I was reminded of Jesus’ words to his parents when they found him in the temple. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 New King James). Like Daniel, being about the King’s business was not always easy for Jesus. In the book that bears his name, Isaiah the prophet gives us this description of Jesus: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…” (Isaiah 53:3 NIV). I don’t know how much pain and suffering Jesus had experienced by age twelve, when he made this declaration to his parents, but he stayed his course of being about his Father’s business in the incredibly hard years that followed. Luke 9:51 (New King James) states “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem…” He knew what awaited him there. Jesus had explained “…to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21 NIV).
Another prophecy about Jesus, Isaiah 50:7 (NASB), enlightens us a little more concerning his determination to be about his Father’s business. “…I have set my face like flint…” Flint is a very hard rock, even capable of producing fire, when struck against steel.
At the beginning of each new year, I wonder what the future will hold for me. I hope -- I pray -- that I will enjoy bright, beautiful days, but when I read about Daniel and Jesus, I am inspired to pray, that even more, God will help me to stay the course no matter what adversity I may face. Just as these words in Daniel, “I got up and went about the king’s business,” were sandwiched between exhaustion and illness, and being appalled and confused, I desire to remain loyal to my king, right in the middle of my circumstances, even if they are distressful.
I need to be aware, though, that even a bright, beautiful year doesn’t automatically guarantee that I will remain on course. Sometimes earthly blessings can actually cause us to shift our focus off of the Lord. God warns his people of this in Deuteronomy 8:12-14 (NIV). “…when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God…” The Lord prefaces these verses with “Be careful…” (Deuteronomy 8:11 NIV).
Those two words sum it up for me. If I have a New Year’s resolution, it is to be careful to stay the course… whether the New Year brings adversity or blessing. I know my resolve, alone, won’t be what enables me to accomplish this. Paul put it this way, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NASB). He described staying the course in these words: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 NIV). Have a blessed, beautiful New Year, but most of all, stay the course!
In Daniel, chapter six, when the Babylonian king, Darius, made plans to set Daniel over his whole kingdom, the other administrators came up with a plan to get rid of Daniel. They couldn’t find any grounds for charges against him in his conduct of governmental affairs, so they convinced the king to issue an edict that anyone who prayed to anyone besides the king, would be thrown into the lion’s den. Verse ten tells us Daniel’s response to the edict. “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Adversity didn’t keep Daniel from being loyal to the King of Kings.
When I read the words, “I got up and went about the king’s business,” in chapter eight, I was reminded of Jesus’ words to his parents when they found him in the temple. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 New King James). Like Daniel, being about the King’s business was not always easy for Jesus. In the book that bears his name, Isaiah the prophet gives us this description of Jesus: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…” (Isaiah 53:3 NIV). I don’t know how much pain and suffering Jesus had experienced by age twelve, when he made this declaration to his parents, but he stayed his course of being about his Father’s business in the incredibly hard years that followed. Luke 9:51 (New King James) states “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem…” He knew what awaited him there. Jesus had explained “…to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21 NIV).
Another prophecy about Jesus, Isaiah 50:7 (NASB), enlightens us a little more concerning his determination to be about his Father’s business. “…I have set my face like flint…” Flint is a very hard rock, even capable of producing fire, when struck against steel.
At the beginning of each new year, I wonder what the future will hold for me. I hope -- I pray -- that I will enjoy bright, beautiful days, but when I read about Daniel and Jesus, I am inspired to pray, that even more, God will help me to stay the course no matter what adversity I may face. Just as these words in Daniel, “I got up and went about the king’s business,” were sandwiched between exhaustion and illness, and being appalled and confused, I desire to remain loyal to my king, right in the middle of my circumstances, even if they are distressful.
I need to be aware, though, that even a bright, beautiful year doesn’t automatically guarantee that I will remain on course. Sometimes earthly blessings can actually cause us to shift our focus off of the Lord. God warns his people of this in Deuteronomy 8:12-14 (NIV). “…when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God…” The Lord prefaces these verses with “Be careful…” (Deuteronomy 8:11 NIV).
Those two words sum it up for me. If I have a New Year’s resolution, it is to be careful to stay the course… whether the New Year brings adversity or blessing. I know my resolve, alone, won’t be what enables me to accomplish this. Paul put it this way, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NASB). He described staying the course in these words: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 NIV). Have a blessed, beautiful New Year, but most of all, stay the course!
