“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.’” (Daniel 1:1-4) ESV)
Daniel, Hananiah, and Mishael, surely had not planned on being taken into Babylonian captivity. That was an unplanned change. The change of their names to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. That was an unplanned change. They definitely were not planning on being called on to enter the king of Babylon’s personal service.
I’m sure that this was not just unplanned, but it was also undesirable, and it would have been undeniably intolerable due to their faith in God. When you read on in Daniel, you will see that these young men remained steadfast in the midst of unplanned change. There were just some things that they were not going to change in the midst of unplanned change. They were not going to change their diet, their prayer life, there conviction that the Lord is able to deliver, or last, but not least, they were not going to change their faith. As a matter of fact, they would, as they say, flip the script, and bring about change in a place that was foreign to them. See the verse below to support what I just wrote. The account of these young men will help you when you find yourself in the midst of unplanned change. Hopefully, their stories, true stories from the word of God, will influence you to remain steadfast in the midst of unplanned change when it occurs in your life. I’m anticipating that today, and every day you are blessed to see, that after you look at the story of these young Hebrew faithful men, when you open your Bibles today to get the rest of the story; I’m anticipating that you will be encouraged to hang on in there when you experience unplanned change. As a matter of fact, I’m positive that you too, like the young men above, will bring about some change in the lives of others because you remained steadfast in the midst of change.
Have a good Saturday! Stay faithful and show up at church tomorrow and see how the Lord will continue to build you up. Unplanned changes are lurking around every corner of life, but I admonish you to remain faithful and be a blessing, used by God. You have some time! Go ahead and sing a verse of “Trouble in My Way,” realizing that whatever unplanned change you face, Jesus will fix it afterwhile. Be blessed!
“Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand, and foot, into the fire?” “That’s right, O king,” they said. “But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!” Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire. All the important people, the government leaders, and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them! Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own. “Therefore, I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.” (Daniel 3:24-30 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King