God's Got This

Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar.  They were set aside for possible service to the king himself, provided they made the cut. If not, their future would have been bleak indeed. 

An official was placed over them to prepare them to be presented to the king at the appointed time. He was responsible for insuring these slaves were at their best and a big part of that preparation was diet, believing we are what we eat (imagine that, eating healthy to be healthy, what a concept, huh, go figure),

Their concept of healthy eating included lots of meat, especially including the fat portions in order to overcome that rather gaunt, taken in captivity as a slave look they would have had - similar to how runway models look today.  

Daniel knew the predicament they were in. The king would only take the best into court service, the rest would be common slaves if they were allowed to live at all. Conventional wisdom said to put your future into the hands of the experts, even if it meant compromising Hebrew dietary laws ordained for God's people. 

Daniel, however, had no intention of compromising his faith: "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine..." (Dan 1:8).  He and his friends ate what appeared a rather Spartan diet but, because of his faithfulness to God, "the king found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah" (1:19).

You may be placed in difficult situations this year.  You may be tempted to adopt the tactics of the ungodly who seem to have it all together. But true success lies in being true to God, keeping the faith and trusting in Him to deliver.  As my wife so often says, "God's got this."  Jus' Sayn.