Brave
First off, Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had a fantastic evening bringing in the New Year. It's nice to see you back here. I must admit, I've been struggling with this topic for awhile now, so I promise I am not coming from a standpoint of mastery.
The song this week is Brave by Sara Bareilles, if you have not heard this song before it can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyAfjUHlFSM
The story we will be looking at alongside the song is found in Daniel 1. Now as the passage is twenty-one verses long I will post a link (lots of links this week) to the passage for you to follow along with. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+1&version=NIV
What's going on in the passage is that King Nebuchadnezzar has requested some Israelites to be in his service who are of tip top shape. These boys appear and are given a buffet of fantastic foods to eat from while they are readied for the king. This is the kind of buffet that would make an American teenage boy's heart explode with happiness. The Israelites do something very odd though, that is they say that they want vegetables instead of the feast. This brings us to our first point: There is always a choice.
The first verse of Sara's song discusses the power of words. It opens with the line, "You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug." Whenever we come across a situation there is always a choice: right or wrong. This sounds so simple, and yet so often we miss it. Whether it be peer pressure or even attitude, we don't see a choice every time. I like to imagine Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael standing at the end of the buffet table just shocked, then we hear Azariah's stomach growl and the group just looks at him. It doesn't seem to mention a vegetarian option, but due to the Lord's commandments for these four they knew that they weren't' supposed to eat the meat and wine of the king's buffet.
The second point this passage shows us is it won't be easy. The official resists the command of the four at first because he fears that he will get in trouble. The men didn't have to choose to go against the flow, none of the Babylonians would have known otherwise, but they still chose the tougher route. Sara's second verse talks about how we don't always do the brave option. We get paralyzed by fear, but maybe one day we can stand up and be brave.
If you hear nothing else in this blog hear this, God is never going to put something in your path that He hasn't prepared you for. No matter how frightening, uncomfortable, or even painful something might seem God has prepared you to handle it. Not only has He prepared you for it, but He's going to go through it with you, so go for it.
What's going on in the passage is that King Nebuchadnezzar has requested some Israelites to be in his service who are of tip top shape. These boys appear and are given a buffet of fantastic foods to eat from while they are readied for the king. This is the kind of buffet that would make an American teenage boy's heart explode with happiness. The Israelites do something very odd though, that is they say that they want vegetables instead of the feast. This brings us to our first point: There is always a choice.
The first verse of Sara's song discusses the power of words. It opens with the line, "You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug." Whenever we come across a situation there is always a choice: right or wrong. This sounds so simple, and yet so often we miss it. Whether it be peer pressure or even attitude, we don't see a choice every time. I like to imagine Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael standing at the end of the buffet table just shocked, then we hear Azariah's stomach growl and the group just looks at him. It doesn't seem to mention a vegetarian option, but due to the Lord's commandments for these four they knew that they weren't' supposed to eat the meat and wine of the king's buffet.
The second point this passage shows us is it won't be easy. The official resists the command of the four at first because he fears that he will get in trouble. The men didn't have to choose to go against the flow, none of the Babylonians would have known otherwise, but they still chose the tougher route. Sara's second verse talks about how we don't always do the brave option. We get paralyzed by fear, but maybe one day we can stand up and be brave.
If you hear nothing else in this blog hear this, God is never going to put something in your path that He hasn't prepared you for. No matter how frightening, uncomfortable, or even painful something might seem God has prepared you to handle it. Not only has He prepared you for it, but He's going to go through it with you, so go for it.
The final thing that this passage shows is God responds. The men took the faithful route, although different, and God grants them wisdom and knowledge. This would later take them to positions of advising that were higher than any others in the kingdom. The bridge to the song goes like this, "And since your history of silence won't do you any good, did you think it would?" We are called to act, and we must do so.
I don't know what situations you are dealing with in your life right now. I can't give you the answer of what is right or wrong to do in them. In fact the right thing might not even be an action at all, it could be an attitude change. Although it can be difficult or painful, we get to rest in one thing before we do anything. That is that we are never alone. The all powerful God who made this life will be right beside you the whole way through.
Thank you for reading and God bless.
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