The Monday Memo from John Stanko

915: Doing the Impossible in Babylon

As we continue with our Success in Babylon series, this week we look at Daniel after he and his friends were promoted after they had distinguished themselves in their period of training. No sooner had they distinguished themselves, they faced a crisis:

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.” 

Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.” The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans" (Daniel 2:1-11).

Nebuchadnezzar was a difficult man to work with and for. He obviously had a short fuse on a bad temper, and he had high expectations for his advisors and officials. No one believed his standards could be achieved, and they were all about to get permanently "fired" for their inability to measure up.

DANIEL TO THE RESCUE

Daniel was included in the king's death edict, but when faced with this dilemma, he did not panic or hide. He simply applied his faith in God, right there in Babylon, on behalf of a heathen king and empire that had done him and his friends much harm:

When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him (Daniel 2:14-16).

Daniel believed that his God could perform the impossible, but it wasn't just something he talked or sang choruses about. Daniel acted on his faith and saved not only his life, but also the lives of the other wise men, most of them engaged in practices like soothsaying, consulting the dead, and sorcery--all practices prohibited by Daniel's God. Of course, we know the outcome:

Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision (Daniel 2:17-19a).

It is remarkable that Daniel received not just the king's dream interpretation, but also had the exact same dream! How did Daniel know he had the correct dream? How was he so sure? He was confident because he was an Old Testament man living in New Testament truth:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do (James 1:2-8).

THE LESSONS

If you are in Babylon, you can trust God to act according to your faith, even if you are serving what seems to be a secular or non-Christian entity. God responds to faith, and God still does the impossible, but usually for those who trust and ask Him to do so. What's more, God can assign you to express your purpose and faith in a setting that is less than ideal, a place not of your choosing or liking. I would tell the inmates in prison that God wanted them to express the best of who they were for guards and authorities who were sometimes harsh and demeaning. What's more, God expected them to be involved in making their Babylon a better place to live and work, and God expects the same of you, no matter how difficult your conditions or oversight.

Many saints tell me their favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." When they tell me that, I usually respond by asking, "So what are some of the 'all things' you are doing?'" They usually look surprised, for they are stating that they can do all things; not that they are doing all things--and there is a big difference, which distinguishes productive, doing Christians from non-productive, talk-only ones.

Are you giving your best in Babylon? Are you heeding God's directive in Jeremiah 29:7: "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Your "city" may be a place of business, a prison, a school, or even a church located in our around Babylon. Wherever it is, God is watching and waiting to get involved, and doesn't mind doing the impossible for His servants who ask and believe. The problem is not whether or not God can do it, but whether His people are willing. He is, if you are, so this week, find a place to insert your wisdom-giving God into your wisdom-starved Babylon. Have a blessed week.

914: Suffering in Babylon

Let's review what we have learned so far in our Success in Babylon series we began five weeks ago. Our focus for the series is Daniel in Babylon to learn how we can be as successful in our spiritually-hostile environment as he was in his. To date, we have learned that:

1. Daniel was in Babylon not by choice, but by conscription.
2. Daniel and his friends had a bright future in front of them, but it suddenly change and they had no say in the matter.
3. When they got to Babylon, they were given new names, transformed into eunuchs, and forced to assimilate into a new culture.
4. Even through all their suffering, Daniel and his entourage refused to eat the king's food, staying true to their heritage and values as Hebrew men.
5. God blessed their commitment and they were promoted into the king's service because God's ways always ultimately lead to success and promotion.

You can read any of the previous entries before you on to read this week's lesson.

DRINK THE CUP

Before we move on to Daniel 2 next week, I want to look at one more concept in Daniel 1, which is one that is implied but not specifically mentioned and that concept is suffering. We read in Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way." It would be simple to read through Daniel 1 and not take a moment to reflect on what these young exiles went through emotionally to get to Babylon.

These young men had seen their homeland and Temple invaded and destroyed by foreigners, things some prophets had predicted would never happen. Perhaps they saw their families killed, or they at least were separated from their loved ones when they were taken to Babylon, never to see them again. These captives had to walk the 600 miles to Babylon from Judea, and were probably not given the best of treatment. All these events would add up to significant trauma that they would have remembered for the rest of their lives. 

In the midst of all that, they refused to drink wine from the king's cup because they had their own cup to drink from, and it was the cup of suffering. Jesus had His own cup of suffering to drink from and he implied that anyone who followed Him would have their own cup as well:

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” "You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them.“ Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father" (Matthew 20:19-23, emphasis added).

Later, Jesus addressed His own cup of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will'" (Matthew 26:39). The cup was a reference to the agonizing suffering Jesus was about to endure, and Jesus knew it was going to be a struggle even for Him. Yet He endured and we are instructed to do the same:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

GET READY

When I spoke in prison settings, I reminded the inmates that part of their lot was suffering, something many of them had either experienced or committed crimes to avoid. Either way, they were going to have to deny themselves, pick up their crosses, and follow His example--and that was going to cause them to suffer. The same is true for you, regardless of what situation you find yourself. If you are going to fulfill your life purpose and be true to the Lord's will, you will suffer. Paul understood this and rejoiced in the privilege to do so: "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church" (Colossians 1:24).

Daniel was successful in his Babylon because he embraced suffering and did not allow it to deter him from serving God. He was not bitter and he willingly gave the best of who he was to his captors, as we will see in later Memos. Can you do the same? Can you give your best to your Babylon as you serve your Nebuchadnezzar? Can you follow Christ not only when the blessings flow, but also when the sufferings abound? I close with this admonition from Hebrews:

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come  and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10:32-39).

Have a blessed week.

913: God's Ways Work in Babylon

We continue this week with our ongoing series titled "Success in Babylon," in which we are focusing on Daniel and the steps he took not just to survive but thrive in Babylon after his forced deportation. Last week, we saw that Daniel and his friends refused to eat the king's food, asking for permission to maintain their simpler diet of vegetables. They received permission to do so for only a few days and then they would be evaluated to determine if their diet was indeed superior to that of the king's training center. Let's look at the rest of the story from there.

IT WORKED

Daniel's experiment of not eating the king's food produced good results:

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus (Daniel 1:15-21).

Daniel proved that his diet and way of life were superior to that of the Babylonians, and the king's official, who wanted results, was only too glad to comply. Not only did Daniel and his friends look better than the other young captives, they also outperformed their peers. Since God promotes people who develop their potential dnd not those who only have it but do nothing with it, it was only a matter off time before these men were noticed and given more responsibility. 

MORE PROOF

There are many places in the Bible where the success of God's people is promised or at least insinuated. Here are a few:

• Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank (Proverbs 22:29).
  
• The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom (Deuteronomy 28:13).
  
• Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:1-3).

In my busy days doing prison ministry, I would encourage the inmates to be true to their Christian values, for God watched and worked even in prison settings, just like He did in Babylon. There were times when God tested the inmates by giving them lowly positions or harsh overseers, but I never saw it fail that if they were true to God's ways and persevered, God would promote and prosper them. The same is true for you, no matter what situation you find yourself in. 

While we must be careful not to worship at the altar of success, we must also acknowledge that God's ways work, and, if we follow them, He will exalt us in whatever sphere He calls us to serve. Therefore, if you are not advancing, you must ask the reasons why and examine yourself to see if you are the problem. Are you bearing fruit? Do you have favor with those over you? If you have leadership power, do you champion the cause of those who are faithful, skilled, and honest? Success in Babylon is no different than anywhere else, for God is the same no matter where His people are called to live and serve. Have a blessed week.