365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 218: God of Daniel

God of Daniel

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." (Daniel 6:10 NIV)

I've never really bought into the whole "practice makes perfect" bit. In this imperfect world, perfection is a taskmaster who is impossible to please. At the risk of being over-dramatic (though I'm not one of my church's "Drama Mamas" for nothing), I believe the carrot of perfection is something the enemy likes to dangle in front of us to distract and discourage us (both being a couple of his favorite weapons to render us less effective for God than we might be otherwise).

I'm a bigger fan of "practice makes possible." When my daughter was a high-school clarinetist, she spent a lot of time practicing ordinary things like scales and fingerings so that the extraordinary—superior ratings at competitions and, once, a chance to play at an arts festival surrounded by the best young musicians in our state—might be possible. There were never any guarantees that her practice was going to pay off in the ways she hoped, but by her practicing, she set herself up for the possibility of success.

Daniel's practice of some ordinary things made something extraordinary possible. Three times every day, he "got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God." When his jealous enemies sought his undoing the only way they could—by tricking the king into making a law that decreed that anyone who prayed to "any god or man" except the king for 30 days should be thrown into the lions' den—Daniel's response was familiar: "Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." His ordinary habits made extraordinary faith possible.

The time for me to decide if I trust God and am on His side is not when I'm facing the lions. When faced with persecution, Daniel fell back on practice. There was no "am I with God or not?" decision to be made, because even though Daniel's circumstances may have changed, his God had not.

This thread of consistency and continuity is reflected powerfully in King Darius' question to Daniel at the mouth of the lions' den: "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

"Continually." Not once-in-a-while. Not when it's convenient. Not when I'm desperate and don't know what else to do. Continually. So that practice may make impossible faith possible...and put God's perfection on full display.

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Oh God, please weave threads of consistency and continuity into the fabric of my faith. Help me to practice "ordinary" things and be ready to see you accomplish something perfectly extraordinary with them, to the praise of Your great name.