“While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.  And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”  But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.  But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” Luke 5:12-16 ESV People are naturally drawn to the miraculous. Anything beyond what our finite minds can comprehend will lure our curious minds and eyes in. This doesn’t only apply to the church either. When I entered “Do miracles happen?” into a search engine, I received 27,300,000 results in 0.60 seconds. Humanity is always on the hunt for a miracle. On the contrary, not many people love and pursue desolate places. In my mind, I view the miraculous and the desolate as opposites. The miraculous is thriving, alive, and grand. Desolation is lonely, confusing,…

“So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” Daniel 6:28 NLT As we have journeyed through the story of Daniel, it is easy to see that God was working all things out for his good. He flourished in a foreign land, always maintaining his integrity and gaining the respect of those in high positions of power, and he survived every verbal attack and accusation spread about him. Throughout all of this, God always received the glory. If Daniel could sit with us today, I think he would agree that he became powerful in government and in spiritual matters only because of God. It was not accomplished by his strength or by his doing, but rather it was the result of a life fully surrendered to God. Daniel exercised his spiritual muscles daily, always spending time with his Lord, regardless of the possible repercussions. He was never led astray by the culture he was now immersed in. He was adaptable, but never compromised. Daniel became powerful because he was humble. Daniel never abused his power, never took it for granted, and always gave public glory to God for all that He had done. A…

“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Daniel 6:10 NLT To some, the fact that Daniel still prayed despite new laws that should have prevented him from doing so, may be seen as an act of defiance. We can learn from Daniel’s history and what others knew of him that this was not the case. Daniel did what he always did, he prayed.  This was not a spiteful act of revenge, this was Daniel’s lifestyle. The comings and goings of his life were that of consistency and dedication. We read that Daniel’s persistence would not be deterred by any man-made laws, for he was far too aware of who his God was and all He had done for him. Daniel 6:4 tells us that Daniel was known to be “…faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.” Daniel remained steadfast in his commitment to God. He did not become enraged, running to tell his friends of those who were scheming against him. No social…

“Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.” Daniel 6:4 NLT While David did experience great success in all he was tasked to do, he also faced intense persecution from those who should have stood with him. Often at the heart of hatred and persecution, you will find jealousy and insecurity. What appears at face value to be blatant viciousness is likely a human being struggling with feelings of inferiority, lack of identity and purpose, and unforgiveness. Daniel was continually assaulted with vile backstabbing from those who abused their positions of power. In the above scripture, the administrators and high officers knew that Daniel was a man of integrity and that they would not find any fault in his work ethic and practices. Instead, “…they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.” (Daniel 6:5) These men had witnessed Daniel’s faithfulness day in and day out and knew that he would certainly bend a knee in prayer regardless of…