Do you feel like God put you somewhere that you do not want to be?

Maybe you’re young and hungry for adventure, but God hasn’t opened any of the doors that would allow you to be financially able to travel and explore.

Or, you worked so hard in college to do something important with your life, but since you haven’t been hired for a position in your field, you are stuck at a job that just pays the bills.

Perhaps you wanted to start a business of some sort, but kids came earlier than you planned, so you now focus your energy on being a parent.

Maybe you are advanced in maturity and ready to retire, but sudden expenses put that dream on hold.

I know this feeling very well.

When you want your life to look a certain way by now, but God has you in a place that’s very uncomfortable.

The vision you had for your life looks far different than how you pictured it would be.

You feel stuck someplace that you do not want to be.

I get it!

What if I told you that the place that you don’t want to be, could be the very place that you thrive in?

I know, you would still rather have the story play out in the way you imagined it.

You would still prefer not to be stuck in a chapter that you don’t like very much.

I understand, completely!

However, I need to tell you something important.

Even if you were in the place that you envisioned yourself being; if your heart isn’t prepared for it, you won’t experience that place as you thought you would.

It’s true!

You could have everything that you ever wanted and still not enjoy it because your heart will find another reason to be discontent.

There will always be something missing.

I know you do not agree.

You just know that if your plans came to pass, you will finally be content.

You see other people content once they have reached their goals!

It’s common to overlook the fact that people oftentimes hide their discontentment in public.

As well, you don’t see or consider how their hearts had to be prepared before they reached their goals.

All of us have found ourselves in stages of life that we rather not be in; and the fact is, most of us find a reason in every stage of life that we are in, to be dissatisfied.

In every season, there is something that we are grateful for and something we are unhappy with.

Sometimes it’s hard to see what you are grateful for when the unpleasant circumstances seem to grab your attention more.

(see post

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO BE THANKFUL?

for deeper insight on this subject.)

This puts us in a constant state of discontentment.

However, there is a way to experience even the most unpleasant of circumstances and still be content in your heart.

There is a way to get the most out of a season, even if the season looks nothing like you wanted it to look.

The key is found in the book of Daniel.

You may not have ever noticed this before…

Daniel 1 takes us to a time in history when the people of Judah and Israel were taken captive, to Babylon.

‭‭this wasn’t simply an unfortunate detail in the Israelite’s story;

Daniel‬ ‭9‬:‭4‬-‭19‬ ‭‬‬ confirms that this happened as a result of God’s people breaking their covenant with God.

‭‭In Leviticus‬ ‭26‬:‭13‬-‭17, God warns the Israelites of the consequences of breaking the covenant that He made with them.

While that chapter sounds harsh to many people, we actually get to see God in a way that we tend to overlook, in the Old Testament.

In chapter 26, God tells the Israelites beforehand, that He will give them many chances to turn around and follow Him again.

It is said that God is all wrath in the Old Testament, however, this chapter reveals mercy.

God made an agreement and a relationship with His people, and He is telling them the consequences of breaking this agreement.

There are difficult consequences for breaking the marriage covenant or a legal agreement… We understand those consequesnces because they work in our favor sometimes.

If you had a spouse who cheated on you but separation wasn’t a consequence, you would feel unjustified.

What if there was no consequences for a company who broke their agreement and took your money without offering you the services that were promised?

We like the consequences that protect us; while the people who wronged us, fight in order to not experience the consequences of their actions against us.

Sadly, this is the same with us.

We don’t like the fact that God gives consequences because we will be the ones receiving the consequences.

Here is the difference,

God gave chances, when we typically don’t.

If a company tried to steal your money before, you most likely will not make another agreement with them.

God is different.

God knows that we will fail again, so He not only offers a second chance, He tells us beforehand that He will offer second chances.

What if you were getting into a relationship or a business deal with someone, and before you even made that agreement, you told them that there will be consequences if they break the agreement, but you will still give them an opportunity to change.

Culture would say that you were crazy!

It’s like giving people permission to break their word to you!

We would NEVER sign ourselves up for something that could only bring us hurt!

Yet, God signed Himself up for something that could only bring Him hurt, just to be our God.

God didn’t want the covenant He made with you to be void, He kept the agreement and that shows that He wanted to be our God.

This is why He never stopped fighting for you, no matter how many times that you broke the covenant.

Our actions never changed the fact that God still wanted to be our God and our Father.

That’s not a cruel god.

All I see is a merciful and loving God, through and through.

Anyways…

Back to Daniel 1.

All of God’s people were now captives in the enemy’s land.

Their rebellious living and freedom was stripped away when Babylon overthrew them.

They wanted God’s promised protection without having to fulfill their part of the covenant; so when they broke their relationship with God…

God removed the protection.

Their Father showed what results come from them trying to keep the benefits that He offers, while still living life the way they choose.

The Israelites just wanted to live a comfortable life full of pleasures.

They certainly didn’t desire to go from

comfort

Captivity.

However, their actions show that they didn’t take their relationship with God seriously.

Nevertheless, there was four Hebrew men who actually did take their covenant with God seriously.

They stood out amongst the Israelites, because they actually honored God’s word.

I can only imagine how they felt.

Daniel was one of them.

If I was Daniel, I would feel so depressed; because Daniel didn’t deserve the captivity.

He didn’t deserve to be a slave in Babylon!

He probably never saw this happening to him.

God surely has Daniel someplace that he does not want to be!

Perhaps God had a reason for letting Daniel be led to slavery, though he didn’t deserve it.

Maybe there was a greater purpose behind this Babylonian captivity.

Let’s look deeper into this story.

“Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

The three men who honored God with their lives, happened to be the men who stood out amongst the Israelites and drew the attention of the king of Babylon.

They were not like the Israelites.

Daniel and his friends were different; they didn’t compromise their faith in God, even while they faced a terrible situation.

This is what captured the eyes of the rulers.

They continued to honor God, regardless of their circumstances.

Though they were not in the stage of life that they may have imagined, they didn’t see this as an excuse to stop doing what was right.

They just trusted God.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

We see that Daniel’s focus was on God because, when he had the opportunity to have pleasures which would distract him from the distress that he was experiencing…

He chose to instead keep distractions far from him.

He didn’t try and find a way to comfort himself in this time of trial.

Daniel was still on mission even though God had him someplace that he did not want to be.

We struggle with this!

When I am in a season that I rather not be in, I look for comfort to distract me from how miserable I feel.

I forget that I still have a calling on my life, and I search for some kind of pleasure.

As well, I forget that my life was made for more than just me enjoying myself.

When life hurts, I stop thinking about the Kingdom of God and I focus on making myself feel better.

We all are inclined to nurse our wounds.

It’s common to forget about our purpose when we are in pain.

Trials could be our biggest distraction from what God has called us to focus on…
Or it could be our greatest opportunity to deepen our faith.

Daniel chose to limit distractions so he could focus even more on what God may be leading him to do.

Though he was not where he wanted to be

He never lost sight of the ultimate goal.

Daniel choosing to stand with God, even if it challenged the commands of King Nebuchadnezzar, was a crazy decision in that time.

He could have been killed for disobeying the commands of the king.

Yet, Daniel knew that if he has a purpose here, God will protect him.

“Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.
“As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

God placed favor on Daniel and put him into positions of authority in a foreign land.

In a place that he probably never wanted to be, God used him for something incredible!

For many years, Daniel was a vital asset to the king.

Because Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams; we see in Daniel 4, that without Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar would not have encountered God.

Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and finally realized that the God of Israel was LORD of all creation, only because Daniel was sent to Babylon.

Maybe the captivity wasn’t just prophesied punishment…

What if it was a rescue mission?

What if this was God’s opportunity to get close to Nebuchadnezzar, so God could finally have his heart and the hearts of all of those in Babylon?

This was all purposeful!

To the Israelites, it was inconvenient and dreadful.

However, if they stopped looking at how uncomfortable they were, they might see that God had them here for a reason!

God used the four men who actually kept His will in mind.

God used all who were ready to be on mission, while everyone else focused on how this ruined their plans.

The LORD’s plan was to be known by a nation who didn’t know him.

God’s plan is always greater than ours!

That’s why we can’t label any season of life as a waste!

Because even the most awful seasons of life may not have anything to do with our story…

It may be God’s way of putting us in position to make a monumental difference in the lives of those who don’t know Him yet!

God is using every season as an opportunity to reach those who are far away.

Will we focus on how messed up our plans are?

Or…

Will we decide to trust that God has us here for a reason and us standing in this hard season, may be exactly where He uses our lives to impact those who would have never encountered Him otherwise?

This season may be tough and it may look nothing like where you want to be.