WHAT CAN WE DO? Part 6
Daniel 9:2-3 “In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
In our previous chapter we learned how God told us to pray and seek His face, but what does that mean in reality? Perhaps this is where Daniel can help us. We see that as Daniel was seeking God he saw that God had intended that the Israelites would spend 70 years in captivity. It was now 70 years, but they were still in captivity and so Daniel turned to prayer to see God’s will being done. Jesus told His disciples that they should pray for His kingdom come and His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. This is why it is important for us to understand, from Scripture, just what does God want to do (how is He working) so that we can work and pray towards that end.
We read in Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Just like God said that the Children of Israel will be held in captivity for 70 years, so He also says that the “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
So like Daniel, we work and intercede towards that goal. God placed Daniel in a very important place where he could influence those who were making decisions that would affect the lives of many. Like Daniel we all have our places of influence and we too need to be faithful in our working and praying for God’s purpose to be carried out.
It is important to see what the problem that we face really is. We are fighting many battles: broken marriage/family, abortions, gay marriage rights, progressive ideas (result of man’s reasoning over the centuries); all that run contrary to the Word of God. Over these past weeklies we have seen that the underlining battle is, whether man’s reasoning based on human experience supersedes the knowledge from the Holy One. Man has become god and through the centuries and especially the 20th century we have learned that man makes a very ‘bad god.’
We know that the world will not change until people change. This is why humanitarian works and evangelism go together like a hand and glove. We have had many humanitarian endeavors without seeing the heart of man change and the endeavors have come to nothing. This is why I say that one of the greatest humanitarian efforts is to see the Gospel go out because it is “the news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!” (Romans 1:16 The Message translation)
Just like God placed Daniel and his three friends in a place where He could use them, to bring about change, so He does with each one of us. This is why our work matters to God and it should matter to us as well. Those around us are the circle of people that God wants us to influence.
Daniel and his three friends were determined to live for God in that foreign, pagan environment. Because of their testimony and lives we find this statement from the known ruler then of the world Nebuchadnezzar: “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Daniel 3:29
Rather drastic, to say the least, but the word went out all over the known world that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s God was God. The Church (the Body of Christ: those who have been born again and have the same Spirit and Father) have a tremendous responsibility today. We have the truth, we have the answers for today’s problems, and we cannot remain silent.
Paul said: “I believe therefore I speak,” so it must be with us as well.