Greetings from Kenya, although later today I depart for England to be with my friend, Yvonne Brooks, at the Women of Purpose Conference in Birmingham. Before I head out, I want to finish the next installment in our Success in Babylon series that outlines how to thrive in a spiritually hostile environment. Our role model is Daniel and we are looking at the dynamics involved that allowed Daniel to be so successful in his foreign assignment.
This week, we look at Daniel's reinstatement to power and authority, this time under a new king who had deposed the former Babylonian regime. The new king recognized talent and was quick to promote Babylon to his cabinet and one of the three highest positions in the land. Let's look at what other characteristics made Daniel so promotable on so many occasions under so many leaders.
NOT GOOD, BUT GREAT
We read this account of Daniel's reinstatement to a high position in Daniel 6:
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God" (Daniel 6:1-5).
Daniel was promoted not because he was in the right place at the right time, or because he hung around long enough to climb the ladder of success. Daniel was promoted because he was not only good at what he did, Daniel was great at what he did. I have often said that God does not promote potential, but those who develop that potential. The potential is what God gives but the development is what we do. The more skilled and capable we are, the higher the place God can send us.
When I was involved in prison ministry conducting The Lions' Den Seminar, I taught the inmates not to expect any promotion unless they had paid the price to produce excellence, regardless of the task. I had them look at Colossians 3:22-24:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
That meant they had to humble themselves and do even menial tasks with great enthusiasm that produced excellent results--not according to their standard but to that of others.
Yet there is one more important characteristic that was present in Daniel's life and it is described in 6:4: "They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent" (emphasis added). How can we label that trait that went along with Daniel's competence? Let's go there next.
INTEGRITY
Quite simply, Daniel had integrity, which one site defines as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness." Daniel wads trustworthy and Jesus outlined His interpretation of integrity and trustworthiness in Luke 16:10-12:
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?"
Trusted with a little; trusted with money; trusted with someone else's stuff--all those things are expressions of integrity, and Daniel obviously had them all. I regularly reminded the inmates that God was watching how they handled their time, the property under their care, and the little money they had. It was common for them to think, "This isn't a big deal, so I will wait until something important comes along before I really invest myself in doing a good job." That attitude would never allow them to be promoted or trusted and the same is true for you. For some, but I hope not for you, that was a difficult lesson to learn.
If you want to be promoted, it is not enough that you know the Lord. You cannot expect God's favor to open doors for you if you stumble over the threshold because you are ill-equipped for success. You have to have the skill and then match it with honesty and faithfulness if you want to reach the highest levels of God's service no matter what sphere of human existence you are called to serve. I have always laughed at some who talked about God wanting the church to disciple the nations while those same people could not return a phone call or en email in a timely manner. They talked about excellence; they just didn't know how to produce.
It was no accident that Daniel rose to the top like cream no matter the circumstances, and your promotion won't be an accident either. It will happen when God knows you are ready, and that involved being "neither negligent nor corrupt." Consider what I say and then commit to a lifestyle that does not look for shortcuts to godly success but pays the price to see it achieved and maintained. Thank you and have a blessed week!
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