Their plot was devious—motivated by jealousy.

Daniel had gained the favor of King Darius and was about to be promoted as the top ruler, second only to the king. Unable to find any legitimate means to undermine Daniel’s influence,  the court officials conceived a foolproof plot.

They knew Daniel’s faith in his God was unflinching, unshakeable. They knew his great devotion of worship and prayer to the Lord God. And, this was where they perceived his weakness was—this unwavering devotion to his God. So they manipulated the king to sign an irrevocable death decree. Anyone who failed to worship the king and worship only him for 30 days would be thrown into the lions’ den to be devoured.

But when Daniel learned of the decree, he continued to do what he always did. He prayed! He knew it was a death sentence, but still he prayed. He knew he would be thrown into the lions’ den, a death decree even the king himself could not revoke, yet he still prayed.

His adversaries, believing they had set the perfect trap, found him as they expected—praying.  With masked delight, they apprehended him and took him to the king for the decree to be carried out.  With great reluctance, the king, knowing he had no choice but to enforce the irrevocable decree, ordered Daniel to be thrown into the lions’ den.

There was no last minute reprieve.

No sudden miracle of deliverance.

Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den!

If you had never read the account of Daniel’s life before, certainly it would be at this point you would have expected God to have stepped in with a miracle.  After all, Daniel had been faithful, he had refused to worship anyone except the Lord God.  So why didn’t God spare Daniel from being thrown the lions’ den? Why not spare him from such a fearful experience?

Because God had a greater miracle in store.  He would shut the lion’s mouth!  The greater miracle was keeping Daniel safe while he was in the lion’s den.  It was this miracle that became a convincing testimony to the king to the existence and power of the Lord.

Sometime we wonder why God doesn’t spare us from a Lion’s Den experience.  Perhaps like Daniel, God wants to do the greater miracle that becomes the greater testimony of His power and grace in our lives today.  Always remember, He still has the power to shut the lion’s mouth!

Standing in line at the post office, my eye caught sight of an elderly woman.  Her long, straight gray hair tied back neatly in a ponytail, exposing beautiful pearl earrings.  You don’t see many women wearing pearls these days and certainly not pearls that were so rich in color and iridescence.

Whether her pearls were natural or cultured by man’s intervention, what is interesting is that all pearls are a product of an irritation.

When an irritant enters the shell of an oyster, the soft tissue of the oyster releases layer after layer of a material called “nacre,” surrounding the irritant and in the process producing a beautiful, iridescent pearl.

From an irritant comes something of great beauty and value.  Himm!

Sometimes we wonder why God allows irritants to enter our lives.  We want God to remove them, right?  But perhaps God wants us to make a pearl!

He wants us to release some spiritual “nacre” – acts of loving kindness around that irritant, layer after layer after layer.   Got an “irritant” in your life?  It’s an opportunity to create a pearl!

We drove 12 hours from Detroit to Boston to help our daughter and her family pack up for a six month sojourn in Rwanda, Africa. After packing and cleaning, and then more packing and cleaning, we drove 12 hours back to Michigan. True, it was work, but it wasn’t a hardship.  It was something we wanted to do for them.  It wasn’t demanded or even asked for, we offered – and the offer was appreciatively accepted.

So why did we sacrifice five days out of our lives when we have a to-do list of our own that fills several pages? What was the motivation? It wasn’t because we feared that our daughter would be displeased if we didn’t help her.  Rather, we gladly did it out of a heart of love for her and her family.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, even though it required sacrifice on our part, there was a delight, even a joy, that we derived from doing something that blessed her – that pleased her.

Which got me to thinking!

Do I do the things that I do, what the Bible calls “good works,” out a fear of displeasing the Lord or do I do them out of a heart of love that delights in pleasing Him?  Sometimes when you’ve been a Christian for a while, the good things you choose to do – the good works that are to follow your faith – can slip into being motivated by feelings of obligation and duty.  The motivation shifts from a delight in pleasing the Lord to a fear of displeasing Him.

It’s a slight shift but one that makes a profound difference to the Lord.  He desires that our “works” be motivated from a heart of love rather than from a spirit of fear.  It’s a difference of viewing Him through a lens of judgment and condemnation or a lens of grace and love.

So you see, sometimes I just need to readjust my lens!  To focus once again on His great grace and extravagant love for me.  What I do may not change, but certainly the “why” will.

Sometimes I wish there was a “delete button” in life.  To be able to “backspace” the words I have spoken; to delete the deeds I have done.  I can be forgiven, but I can’t change the fact that I spoke the words or did the deed.

And sometimes, that is where we get stuck.  That’s where we dwell.

We believe that God has forgiven us, but we struggle to forgive ourselves.   We dwell on the memory, like a dark cloud hovering over our life.  No matter the joys of life, they are dampened by the regret, dampened by hurt we have caused.  But God doesn’t want us to dwell on what He has forgiven.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”  (Isa. 43:18)

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)

Yes, the Lord wants us to learn from our mistakes. Yes, we need to repair relationships by asking for forgiveness from those we have hurt.  Yes, there may even be consequences we have to accept.  But, God does not want our past to keep us mired in despair and regret, robbing us of peace. – hindering us from moving forward.

Sin nailed Jesus to the Cross and that precious sacrifice miraculously makes forgiveness a reality.  Forgiveness, when embraced, brings peace and joy – the joy of one perfectly forgiven, though we live imperfect lives.

Don’t dwell on past mistakes.  Dwell on His mercy, His grace, His love.

Exhaustion.  A word that summed up what I was feeling on a day filled with purging and packing 25 years of living.  We had sold our home and in just a few days the new owners were scheduled to move in.

Needing a few more boxes and some cleaning supplies, my husband Joe and I, along with our 7 year old grandson, Joel, piled into our car and headed to Home Depot.  Since Home Depot is not my favorite shopping venue, Joe said he would just run in and get what we needed.  Gratefully I accepted his offer.

Alone with Joel in the car, I turned to him and with a deep sigh said, “Joel, your grandma is sooo tired!”  Sensing my weariness, Joel unbuckled his seat belt, jumped up to the front and sat on the armrest next to me.  Then he put his arm around my shoulders and leaned my head against him.  Not a word was said.  The embrace said it all.

I was still physically exhausted, but my heart and soul were refreshed by his loving and thoughtful act of compassion.

That day Joel reminded me of an important truth.  The power of a simple act of loving compassion.  Seeing a need and responding to it – not with grand gestures but with quiet compassion.

When you look at the ministry of Jesus, at the heart of his great miracles is compassion.

You see it when Jesus touched the leper before he healed the man.

You hear it in his kind response to the woman who touched the hem of his garment.

You observe it when Jesus tells the widow of Nain, “Don’t cry!” before he resurrects her son.

Sometimes while we focus on His miracles, we miss out on seeing how Jesus was moved by compassion – a compassion we are to emulate.

It doesn’t matter whether God has called you to be pastor or a greeter; an evangelist or a nursery worker.  It doesn’t matter whether you are called into full time or volunteer ministry in a church.  What we are all called to be is compassionate.  Not just with words but with simple, yet genuine acts of compassion.  Sometimes all it takes is just a compassionate arm around a weary shoulder!