December 29, 2014
It’s about time to move along…
The last year – 2014 – is in its final lap. Three hundred sixty two days have come and gone; you’ve got three days left, and one of those – New Year’s Eve – is a non-starter. Even if you wanted to get something done on Wednesday, you won’t be able to get anyone else’s attention. Work on your journal, maybe; you won’t get anyone fired-up to work on a project. What can you do in two days?
It’s always a great time for some personal reflection (hence, the journal). You started ’14 with vim and vigor (“ebullient vitality and energy”); the year – for you, for us all – had fits-and-starts as it made its way across your life’s calendar. High points, low points; best of times, worst of times; a few wins, a few losses; now, you’re about to measure Year-End ‘14 against Year-End ‘13, and determine whether the year raised or lowered your stock price.
Climb above the fog of your career outcomes; don’t dismiss it as unimportant, but include it as simply one of the factors in your life’s equation, not the sum-total of your personal worth. If your life is a story being co-authored by you and God (which, it is): what did the chapter called, simply, “2014,” add to the drama?
Daniel is a big name from God’s Bigger Story. His life was spotlighted against a tough backdrop: Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judah and enslaved thousands who were taken to Babylon to become a vanquished labor pool. The cream rose to the top: Daniel was part of a contingent of young men of nobility who were brought into the king’s compound and groomed for service to the palace.
For the next six decades, Daniel never knew freedom. His earliest actions caused him to stand-out from his top-tier peers: along with three buddies, they made a case for adhering to their rigid Jewish lifestyle constraints, and proved themselves more fit than those who compromised and adopted the Babylonian excesses. They became part of an elite team of advisors to King Neb.
Neb had a dream – one that stood out, demanding consideration – and surveyed his advisors for help interpreting his nighttime metaphor. Only Daniel was able to deliver the insight about Neb’s prescient dream… and his reward was a governing position just below the king (COO of Babylon).
If leadership involves vision (where are we going?) and strategy (how will we go about getting there, with the obstacles before us and with the resources at hand?), it was valuable for Neb to have a visionary who could read the tealeaves and see the future that no one else could discern. For the rest of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Daniel was in the next office, and overseeing the province of Babylon – even during Neb’s seven-year sabbatical (see Daniel 4: it was a timeout for Neb – imposed by God – to get his attitude adjusted to the reality of Who was really in charge of everything…).
The day came when the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, led by King Cyrus. In the takeover, Darius had the good sense to retain some of the management team: he retained Daniel in the senior management position. Palace conspiracies orchestrated an ethical conundrum for Daniel: his devotion to God over Darius earned him a death sentence in a Lion’s Den. Interpreting dreams had won privilege with Neb; surviving the night with the lions earned favor with Darius (and a death sentence for his enemies, in the same Lion’s Den they had envisioned for Daniel). Through two hostile takeovers, Daniel maintained top-tier placement, though he remained primarily faithful to Heaven’s Throne.
His life, in retrospect: only a couple memorable wins… and years of faithful service milestones. For that, God cites him as one of history’s great heroes: “…if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness…” (Ezekiel 14:19-20) Pretty heady company…
The year soon past may have lacked any trophies for victory… while adding another year to the “faithful service” role you have in your family, in your profession, and in the Kingdom. You may not get a plaque for those milestones, but they are accumulating in Eternity as markers worthy of applause!
Good job, partner,
Bob Shank