The Discomfort of Displacement

Intro

Ever-changing times - uncomfortable times

Comparable time in the scriptures - exile - displaced - relate to us

Daniel 1

Taken from his home - has everything going for him - even has his name changed - breaking down his identity

The possibility of mutilation - Eunuch?

Starts testimony of his life in a deep way - “The Lord put me here.” - verse 2 and 3

The Lord is the most active person in the chapter - does 3 things

God’s Sovereignty

“The Lord put me here” - one of the hardest statements a Christian can make - shows how much we trust him

“Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?”

Easy to dance around saying it - have to reconcile God being good with me struggling - would rather blame the Devil or my own sin - can’t avoid his sovereignty

The Importance of Acceptance

Daniel’s acceptance of God’s will allowed him to focus on the present - focuses on keeping his faith in his displacement

For Daniel, this meant policing his diet in order to keep the law - a challenging thing to do - a risky thing to do - took faith

For us - taking time to pray - living at peace with everyone around you - coming back, even if you’re nervous

God enabled faith - verse 9 - hard to obey in tough times - God makes a way for obedience - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Faith Responses Yield Powerful Results

Verse 17 - God gave them something - when we have faith in our struggles, God builds us up - made them stand out

Obedience in hard times makes you stand out - Philippians 2: 12-14

People should notice Christians in times of crisis - not for their grumbling, for their sound mind

Conclusion

Verse 21 - Though God called Daniel into discomfort, he knew the end at the beginning - if you’re going through a hard time - God knows when it will end

Doesn’t mean everything will go back to the way it used to be - Israel is never the same and we don’t even know if Daniel goes back - He is not the God who makes all thing old

Don’t wait to be obedient - it is always the right time to put your faith in him