IT IS ALL ABOUT GOD’S FAVOR
Daniel 1:9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,
When King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and all the Southern Kingdom, he took Israelites from the royal family and nobility - young men without any physical defect, handsome, those showing an aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. Among them were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These young men were given special privileges as they were trained for serving King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of their three years of training, it was said that they were ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in the whole kingdom, and Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was the largest most powerful kingdom of his day.
With so many very capable young men in such a large empire, it was obvious that these young Jewish men had help from God. God had indeed brought favor on them. It was very much like with Joseph in Egypt. Joseph was a common slave that had been imprisoned, but with God’s favor he became second only to Pharaoh in the mighty empire of Egypt. With God’s favor on them Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would have such an influence on Nebuchadnezzar that later he would make a decree that no other god could save like like their God. Then he added that if anyone would say anything bad against their God, those people would be cut to pieces and their houses turned into piles of rubble. Later Nebuchadnezzar would even make a great statement of praise to the Lord by giving him honor and glory. I believe that King Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in the Lord where in turn he influenced his entire empire to trust in the Lord, all because of God’s favor on some Jewish slaves.
Sometimes we limit God doing great thing through us, because we see only our insignificance and inability, rather than vessels than can be used by a limitless, all powerful God. Time and again God has shown in his word that he delights in taking the weak to show his strength, the simple to show his knowledge. It seems that the weaker we are the greater the potential we are for God glorifying himself in us. Gedion was thought to be from the weakest tribe, the most insignificant family and he even saw himself as the least in his family. Yet God used him to defeat a huge army with only 300 men. God even added that if he had let Gideon have more men to fight with they would have taken credit for the victory.
It really doesn’t take a great person to serve the Lord, it just takes a person that is willing to believe and trust in a great God. Esther was like this. She was just a young girl that with the Lord’s favor on her was able to save the entire Jewish race. God took her from an obscure slave girl to be queen of the largest empires of it’s day, and it was all about what God did through her.
Have you been waiting for God to do something in your life? Are you afraid that your lack of potential is robbing you of serving the Lord? Well, all God is looking for from you is a willing trusting heart. The Lord can bring favor to your life that will amaze even you. He will open doors for you that are tightly closed for more qualified people. All you have to do is let him know that you are willing to serve him. If you would have known me as I was growing up you would have never thought that I would have graduated from college let alone graduate school. At best I had hopes to be an average working man at manual labor. I never was a good student, and felt very inferior. But God knew my heart and with his grace and favor on my life he helped me to become a pastor. God wasn’t expecting the best from me, but rather wanting to put his be in me.
God wants to do this in you as well! It doesn’t matter how you see yourself. What matters is how you see God. If you make yourself available to the Lord he will be happy to use you. You don’t have to worry that he will make you do things that you don’t want to do. God knows your heart, and he will give you a ministry that you will enjoy. He will not ask more of you than you are willing to give. You don’t have to fear trusting in the Lord. You may be a seed planter, one that waters or encourages people. Every task is an important one and a honored one when we do it for the Lord.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to have the courage to make ourselves available to you, so Jesus’ kingdom will be glorified. We ask this in Jesus name.
