I'm not going to sing Elvis' song 'I'm All Shook Up'. You'd get exactly that if I did. Shook up, that is. What happens to me when I get into a tizzy? As wheels fall off my wagon? Can't see the forest or the trees? What then? I get all shook up.
But not Daniel. This Old Testament character shines with great strength and devotion. He's been faithfully serving one pagan king after another while being forcibly evicted and exiled from home, family, and country decades ago, Still, he labors on with eye and heart firmly focused on Jerusalem and his Lord God. Never wavering. Always dyed in the wool. True blue.
I want to be a Daniel. You too? I doubt he ever sang Elvis' lyrics that go like this--'...my hands are shaking and my knees are weak...' May not have sung them, but he sure felt them. All through chapter 9, Daniel owns up to his people's sins. How they've reneged on their promises to God. Cast the Ten Commandments to the ground, stomping all over them. Brazenly rejecting God at the drop of a hat and the first sign of trouble.
How to be like Daniel? Beyond a shadow of a doubt, rely on God's love for you if you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. An angel comes to Daniel's side when he's all shook up--"...a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, 'O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.' And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling..." (Dan. 10:11). Even while all shook up, Daniel hears words that he hungers for--'...man greatly loved...' Jesus says those words to you and me as well.
Something else? To be like Daniel? At the beginning of chapter 9, we find him combing through his Bible. He's searching the book of Jeremiah for insight and understanding of his world that's being all shook up. Good idea. We should, too. That is to dig deeper into our Bibles. Be a Daniel. Like a treasure hunter on the search for untold riches, cherish your Bible. Valuable gems and jewels can be found from cover to cover. Find out for yourself.
Like Daniel, draw close to Jesus telling Him all that's on your heart and mind. Daniel 9: 3-4--'Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession...' Open up to God, letting it all out with Him. Like He doesn't already know? Tell Him. That's what He wants.
There it is. Some guidance from Daniel, our role-model of long ago; when, you and I, here and now, get all shook up. Look gratefully at the wedding ring of committed love that Jesus gives you. Make your Bible your best friend forever. Be more about prayer than panic.
Then we won't get all shook up! Not as much as usual. Not if we're like Daniel.
For your strength, O Lord, we pray this day. In Jesus' name.. Amen.
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