Daniel does what's right... twice! | God helps Daniel save the wise men

From September 11, 2009 Daily Reading
Daniel 1, 2
Revelation 16

SOAP - God helps Daniel save the wise men

Scripture: Daniel 2:18
He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Observation
Daniel face a TERRIBLE situation. Arioch came looking for him and his friends to kill them for something they had no part in. He could have gotten mad, and done something horrible to Arioch, or just become so overwhelmed by such a bleak situation that he froze. Instead he kept his head, was able to have a reasonable conversation with Arioch, and then also the King. Then he put his faith and trust in God. He urged his friends to pray. God came through and gave Daniel the knowledge he needed to save himself and his friends.

Application
In life in general, I get overwhelmed. Big deals, small deals, all kinds of situations have the potential to overwhelm me. Worse yet, I sometimes respond rudely to whomever gives me the overwhelming news, objecting angrily to sudden changes of work schedules, requirements, plans that have already been made, new responsibilities, etc. I just easily get overwhelmed and don't always "keep my head". I'd like to be more like Daniel, able to stay calm, be polite, and TRUST IN GOD.

Prayer
Dear Lord. I want to say I trust in you but my reactions in times of stress don't always show that. Lord help me stay fixed on you so that when stress arrives, you are the first place I look. Amen.

SOAP - Daniel does what's right... twice!

Scripture: Daniel 1:8
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the cheif official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Observation
I think Daniel followed God's will by refusing the royal food and wine. And he trusted God to keep him healthy. He also did the "right thing" by asking permission from the chief official. He was following God, but not being rude or arrogant about it.

Application
Somehow this seems applicable at my job. If someone were to ask me to do something I find questionable morally and I'm convicted to refuse, I should do it politely and with respect, trusting God. I shouldn't refuse just for the sake of being "right".


Prayer
Dear Lord, give me the courage and grace to stand for what's right when I know it's your will. Amen.

Some general thoughts on this set of scripture:

1 - Daniel refused to defile himself with food but uses the word servants, plural... who else chose to forgo the food... Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego I guess. Did hey want to or did Daniel just sorta include them?

2 - Throughout Chapters 1 and 2 it mostly mentions Daniel but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo seem to go with him and he looks out for them.

3 - Typical harsh old testament stuff like killing all the wise men over a dream... seems very extreme and crazy.

4 - In Revelation, verse 16:15 about keeping your clothes on seems very random. The Earth is being destroyed by angels... who cares about clothes?