(Online Bible study ladies, we welcome you to our next study. Hopefully, you have your books by now and have been able to dig in. Because of time in our Thursday studies we do not cover every question so you will notice in the text below only a select few are referenced. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box. We are here to learn from one another so we are eager to hear from you. Ladies from the Thursday study you are also welcome to share what God is teaching you each week.)
Our first lesson in Pursuing Integrity, a study in the life and character of Daniel, starts with a chapter on Spiritual Resiliency.
Daniel was a young jewish man in his early teens when life dealt him a hard blow. He was attractive, intelligent and came from a fine upper class family in Israel. From all accounts Daniel had a bright future ahead until.......
The Babylon army led by the evil King Nebuchadnezzar attacks Israel and after much killing and bloodshed Daniel and many other young men, including three friends named Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, are taken captive back to Babylon to serve in the king's court.
Page 12 asks the question of each of us, "What will you do when the bottom drops out and you en up in Babylon?" for we all have seasons of life where our dreams and plans are dashed and we end up in an unexpected and difficult place.
Our hope is to learn through the course of the next five weeks how God was with Daniel even in his Babylon. It was God's promises Daniel had learned as a jewish lad which got him through his difficult ordeal, perhaps even the words of Psalm 139 gave him assurance where King David several hundred years earlier had written:
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,* you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Words like these helped Daniel become spiritually resilient.
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,* you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Words like these helped Daniel become spiritually resilient.
That word "resilient" can be defined two ways:
1. (Physics / General Physics) (of an object or material) capable of regaining its original shape or position after bending, stretching, compression, or other deformation; elastic
2. (of a person) recovering easily and quickly from shock, illness, hardship, etc.; irrepressible
These definitions brought to mind the phrase we know as "bouncing back" and how trees in the midst of a hurricane will sway and bounce all over only to recover straight and strong at the end of the storm if the trees root system was healthy. Below is a portion taken from the Faithful Daughter Hub Page titled Strong As A Tree ( http://faithfuldaughter.hubpages.com/hub/To-be-as-Strong-as-a-Tree):
Not long ago, as I was going through one of the many storms in my life, the Lord reminded me of something I once observed during a violent storm. During one of our worse hurricane seasons, I observed a tree in the midst of the menacing storm. I watched how the wind swayed and bent the tree to a point where I thought it was going to snap and break. As I watched, I couldn't help feeling sorry for this beautiful tree but at the same time I also felt great admiration for it and found myself thinking "hang on my friend, it will soon be over!" I reflected to that time, as the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me in my present situation and I learned something valuable that to-date I have not forgotten. In a powerful storm the tree is pruned, sort-of-speak, by the strong winds and loses many of its leaves and branches. Often times the tree does bend, but amazingly does not break. Sometimes it not only loses leaves and branches but diseased areas and harmful insects as well. If the storm is fierce enough and the tree does break, within a short time new sprouts of life will begin to form and grow because the foundation of the tree was never destroyed.
This is a great illustration of God's creation and how He uses the storms in our lives to grow us strong in Him - to make us spiritually resilient.
After we read Daniel 1:1-21 we listed some of the losses, changes and trauma that could have discouraged Daniel and his friends (Page 16 - Q2). The gals answered with "the loss of family members and friends through a violent army; taken away from homeland; stripped of their cultural identity because of their three year Babylonian education; names which had been reflective of their one true God changed to reflect the false gods of Nebuchadnezzar".
Yet through all this it is obvious that God has not abandoned them. He is with them as indicated in verse 9 and 17 as He grants them favor through the commander of the officials and grants them great wisdom in their learning. God even grants Daniel the special gift of visions and dreams which would benefit him later in the king's service.
Now, take note below of what spiriutally resilient people like Daniel do:
SPIRITUALLY RESILIENT PEOPLE RESOLVE (page 16-17)
Daniel and his friends resolved (determined) to not defile themselves with the king's food and wine even though it could have cost them their lives. Notice that the way Daniel took his stand against the commander was not of a headstrong or rude nature. It was done with respect and kindness. Daniel does as Paul commands in Ephesians 4:15, "speak the truth in love".
SPIRITUALLY RESILIENT PEOPLE RESPOND (page 18)
Much like our failed New Year's resolutions everything else we resolve to do will not succeed if not followed with a plan of action. Daniel had resolved then he responded with an action plan. By God's good graces the commander fulfilled Daniel's request. Ladies, I encourage you to look at page 19's question and follow through. Ask God what it is He wants you to resolve to do then write down how you will respond - how you will put feet to your resolve.
SPIRITUALLY RESILIENT PEOPLE RELATE
Community is so important when we are going through difficult times. Daniel understood this well as he and his three friends grew together and relied on each during the hard times away from their homeland. What about you? Do you have a friend or two who you can call on when your Babylon comes; friends who can call on you when their walls come crashing down. I encourage to begin building those friendships now. Find ways to keep in touch and offer a growing level of support (question 9) through phone calls, texting, email, snail mail, social media etc. But most importantly move beyond the above mentioned ideas of connecting to face to face contact on a regular basis - where you enjoy the pleasures of life, share the depths or your heart, share God's word and pray together.
SPIRITUALLY RESILIENT PEOPLE REMEMBER
Question 10 asks to recall a time when you knew God's presence was there to get you through a difficult life experience. If you are like many people you find that it is not the "intensity of the suffering that crushed the spirit; it's the meaninglessness of it". Daniel and his friends could not have gotten through their suffering had they not remembered the truths from years past which they learned as young lads - that God had a plan for them and their nation Israel. Keeping their eyes on God's character and truth got them through day by day. We too need to pour over God's scriptures every day, allowing it to seep deep into our minds and hearts so we can "recall" His truth when our Babylon comes; and to look back in our lives when we saw God intervene ever so lovingly in our lives. Then we should faithfully take those stories and relay them to our children and grandchildren so they, like Daniel, can lean on those truths during their difficult days. Do as Asaph did in Psalm 78:2-4
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
