Without Compromise, pt. 2: Dealing with Your Circumstances
When I started a personal Bible study on the book of Ezra several years ago, I wasn’t expecting that I would turn my own study notes into a book about leadership, but that’s what happened (Leadership Ezra, available on Amazon). When that was done, I started a study of Daniel, and never made it past the first chapter before organizing my personal notes into a series of valuable lessons to share with students. As time has gone on, God seems to be prompting me to do more with it, so I have begun the process of turning my notes into short articles, that will then become the basis for chapters in a book (current working title: “Without Compromise: Leading with integrity in the face of pressure”).
The underlying basis of the story is this: In the time and world of Daniel, Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem were invaded and captured. In that process, the most gifted and talented young men were given a “scholarship” [albeit, against their will] to attend the most elite private school in the known world, one designed to prepare leaders & experts (Daniel 1:3). Upon graduation, Daniel and his friends were at the top of the class and were hired into executive leadership positions right out of school (Daniel 1:17-20). But here’s an incredibly significant observation: In between . . . they refused to compromise their faith, values, and integrity.
How did they do it? One way was by seeing their circumstances in the right light.
Daniel was living in a time and in a place in which his nation was rejecting God and disobeying His commands. God had promised judgment on Israel when they did that, so . . . that’s what happened. God allowed another nation to conquer Judah and take the Jews captive. Even though Daniel (as we see later) was living righteously, he was not immune to the fallout from the events in his world (as the Bible says, “The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.”). One of those effects was the “kidnapping” of talented teenagers, who were to be trained (“brainwashed”?) into a new identity, and this included Daniel. Little did he know at the time that God was actually orchestrating something.
So then, how do we see Daniel respond when his world was turned upside down? He could have blamed or rejected God, given up on his faith, followed the crowd so as not to be singled out or persecuted, and/or chosen to follow a path of disobedience and sin. Instead, he trusted God even when it didn’t seem fair, remained faithful to the truth, refused to compromise even if it set him apart, and continued to be obedient in the face of great pressure.
What can we take away from the example of his response? There are both good and bad circumstances that occur in your life, and they may or may not be your own fault. They could be a result of your own sin (bad choices) or righteousness (good choices), a result of someone else’s sin or righteousness, or a result of original sin or God’s favor or His plan. Regardless, in every case, God is working out His purpose for good, and I am accountable for my actions and my response, not for God’s role in the process. For God’s part, He is still in control, has a purpose, and uses people and circumstances – both good and bad – to carry out His purpose (and shape you). I, on the other hand, am responsible to do my part (Prov. 16:9) and to remember that my circumstances – both good and bad – are often outside of my control, but never outside of God’s. Therefore, I need to answer for how I respond.
The lesson we learn from Daniel in this is the Lesson of Circumstances: God has an intentional purpose for your life within your circumstances, and you get to choose your response, your trust, and your obedience.
