Principled Purpose

"Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: 'Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, You have made known to me what we asked of You, You have made known to us the dream of the king."
Daniel 1:19b-23

It is not easy to become, and stay, principled in our daily endeavors. It is not easy to walk the straight and narrow in a world that is replete with crooked paths. It is not easy to establish divine pursuits when unholy internal, and external, spheres of influence seek to draw us towards selfish, and sinful, desires. Sadly, God's believers often tend to settle for a character, or lifestyle, that is less than ideal. We excuse this sub-par spiritual behavior with weak justifications, hoping that somehow the ruse will ease our conscience. But a principled purpose should continually be at the forefront of our heart, as evidenced in the life of Daniel.   

There are several individuals in Scripture who exemplified a spirit of unyielding perseverance and dedication to God. Individuals who held firm to their faith, especially when enemies aligned against them and sought to impugn, besmirch, or ultimately destroy them. Joseph, Elisha, and Daniel come to mind. Of course, Joseph, Elisha, and Daniel paled in comparison to Jesus Christ, Who personified absolute moral and spiritual perfection during His ministry on earth. None-the-less, Joseph, Elisha, and Daniel were devoted followers of the Lord who grasped a fundamental truth: allegiance to God entails a principled purpose, and that purpose is to bring glory to the Lord in everything.

A God-centric principled purpose is difficult for the flesh to grapple with for it necessitates a willingness to allow the Lord's corrective word and righteous discipline to be absorbed in one's life. There is no denying God's ability to penetrate the ears and rattle the souls of humanity. But what we choose to do after the Lord's message thunders in our inner core will determine the effectiveness we have for God's kingdom work. And so we enter the book of Daniel with this underlying tenet: the Lord is glorified in us when we are wholly committed to Him.

Daniel is an intriguing character study. He was exiled from Judah to Babylon in his youth. Shortly thereafter, he was conscripted to serve in the Babylonian government, which included a rigorous three year training program focused on learning the language, culture, and history of the Babylonians. Daniel 1:17 indicates that God's supernatural hand was on Daniel, and three of his Jewish brethren (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah). The Lord provided Daniel a keen mind, which quickly absorbed the influx of information presented to him. Furthermore, God granted Daniel the ability to understand dreams and visions, as well as their application.

Although Daniel was clearly blessed his role as a servant of a foreign regime was a stinging reminder that Judah had, on the whole, forsaken God. But rather than wallow in "could have beens" or "should have beens" Daniel accepted his fate as an exile and did not let his indentured servitude negatively affect his appreciation of the Lord, or the administration of his God-ordained fortunes. Daniel labored diligently, and he lived devoutly. Daniel portrayed a spiritual resoluteness, a steadfastness that was not beholden to compromise or corruption. And this was amplified in the crisis outlined in Daniel 2. One night, King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream. And he was so terrified by the dream that he demanded the meaning of it be offered to him by his counselors. But the royal leader placed a truly difficult stipulation on the request. He asked the kingdom's wise men to recount the substance and significance of the dream without providing any of its inherent details. Apparently King Nebuchadnezzar wanted some level of assurance that the feedback and interpretation was from a higher power. For if the king relayed the content of the dream then his academically-trained and articulate advisers might be able to produce a plausible explanation, an explanation that would likely have sounded good but not been right. That wasn’t satisfactory to King Nebuchadnezzar because he wanted absolute certainty that the  importance of the vexing dream could be revealed. 

The wise men of Babylon went into a state of panic because they believed King Nebuchadnezzar's request was impossible. But there was at least one man who believed otherwise: Daniel. Daniel enlisted the help of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and together they prayed fervently for God's aid. This act alone highlights three critical aspects of Daniel's principled purpose: passion, patience, and petition. One, Daniel's passion for God's instruction and intervention was so strong that his first impulse was to channel the adversity directly to the throne of God. Daniel was dedicated to the Lord, and his immediate, continual response to both hope and hardship was to take it all to God. Two, Daniel exercised patience in choosing to rally godly men around him and wait for guidance from the Lord. In his flesh, Daniel could have pursued an exit strategy of some sort. But he stood his ground and relied on God to make His will and word known. Three, Daniel exhibited a desire to petition God, and God alone. Later passages in the book of Daniel affirm that prayer was a daily spiritual discipline in Daniel's life (reference Daniel 6:10). Daniel understood the real, necessary benefit of seeking God's counsel through prayer and petition.

Principled purpose was the framework that formed and shaped Daniel's activity. And his disposition was forged by his trust in God's might and majesty. He knew that he had a great ally and authority in the Lord, and thus Daniel was convicted to surrender allegiance to the Maker of heaven and earth. Living with principled purpose is not without challenges or complication. The compulsion of the human soul is bent towards mischief and malice. Even in the conduct of the followers of God a duplicity can exist, a duplicity that allows a righteous spirit (the Holy Spirit) to reside in an unrighteous host (mankind). In that vein of thought, I have been burdened for someone who works in my office. This individual emits some rather undesirable traits, including: a practically non-existent work ethic, vile speech, unprofessional behavior, and a willingness to lie, or mislead, to prop up a false image in front of supervision. And the prevailing reason why I feel burdened for this individual is because the person privately professes to be a devout Christian, and regularly attends a weekly church fellowship. The individual has referenced Scripture in personal conversations, and can fluently talk through the beliefs and precepts of Christianity. 

But where is the evidence of a principled purpose in my coworker's life, other than regularly going to church with family? Where is the eagerness to engage in industrious labor? Where is the above-reproach behavior? Where is the honorable tongue? Where is the motivation to glorify God in every aspect of life? But even as I write this I am convicted to admit that I am certainly not without fault. I rarely honor the Lord as well as I should. Both at work and at home, I strain to avoid acting in ungodly fashion. But this passage in Daniel compels to give more than a halfhearted effort. In fact, it compels me to dig deep into Scripture. To drop to my knees in prayer. And to determine to live a life that is characterized by a principled purpose. In short, to live a life like Daniel's.