Hey family, yesterday we saw Daniel pray for 3 weeks during a time of mourning. We have to be content with guessing why he’s mourning and what exactly his prayers are. But we are privy to God’s answer, although it’s not quite the answer Daniel was hoping for. God is once again doing something much bigger behind the scenes.
He did something similar in the lives of those close to my family when I had my accident as a toddler. My parents were active in the worship team at EFCC and my Grandpa was the head pastor of a small Canadian church so, potentially thousands of people were praying for me. If you were around in the 80s and were one of the ones who prayed, then thank you so very much for doing so. God, indeed, intervened and delivered me from an utterly hopeless situation. He healed my mind rather completely but not so much my body. In doing this, He miraculously answered people’s prayers and simultaneously penned a fairly interesting plot hook to a new chapter no one expected.
To the ones closest to it, the whole thing was quite awful because their hopes were seemingly undermined with a future promising to be hard and full of unknowns. I’m sure Daniel felt similarly getting news from this angel that bad things were afoot but the people would get through it. God had been wrestling with Israel for most of the Old Testament as an illustration of how he deals with his children but always provides hope for the future. God never leaves us without hope and he rewards our confidence in his goodness and loving-kindness.
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35
Daniel played his part in God’s plan and he has been immortalized in the Bible as a faithful servant. I think we can look at these bittersweet answers as promises to be included in a much bigger plan that in hindsight, we wouldn’t trade for the world.
Jonathan Duncan