Daniel 4 - He had a Reputation at work Daniel 6 1. Darius divided the kingdom into 120 provinces, each under a governor. 2. The governors were accountable to three presidents (Daniel was one of them) so the king could administer the kingdom efficiently. 3. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other presidents and governors, for he had great ability, and the king began to think of placing him over the entire empire as his administrative officer. 4. This made the other presidents and governors very jealous, and they began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs so that they could complain to the king about him. But they couldn't find anything to criticize! He was faithful and honest, and made no mistakes. 5. So they concluded, "Our only chance is his religion!" LB
In order to come through this testing situation in his life, Daniel firstof all focused on the task at hand - his job - and he did that withunwavering faithfulness and complete competence.
Because of his focus, his circumstances didn't overwhelm him. But Daniel also trusted God. Even his enemies knew that. They concluded, "Our only chance is his religion!"
Daniel understood that he was not responsible for getting his colleaguesto trust in God, because they were evidently not interested in doing so.But they clearly knew that HE trusted in God.
Maybe they often snickered behind his back about his faith, but theycould not accuse his faith of getting in the way of his job! In fact,because of his faith, he was able to do his job really effectively!
What about you? Do your unbelieving colleagues know that because of yourfaith in God, you are able to produce effective results on your job? Prayer: Father, thank You that whatever situation I have to function in, I canput my faith and trust in You. Thank You that I am not responsible for getting others to trust You,but I am responsible for bringing You glory by performing efficientlyin my job. Thank You that with Your help, I can make it through challenging andhostile situations successfully, as the Lord Jesus did, in whose name I pray, Amen. |