“Daniel distinguished himself . . because an excellent spirit was in him.” Daniel 6:3 NKJV
“People who should matter most in your life are appreciative of who you really are.”
My thoughts today are about “being exceptional.”
A lot of people are readily impressed with appearance and abilities, but the people who should matter most in your life are more appreciative of who you are, beyond how you appear and what you do. The world around you is primarily superficial, focused on the surface and the fluff without time or regard to look for substance. Often impression is more important than impact.
This observation offers no excuse for your giving less attention and care to putting one’s best foot forward at all times in meeting and interacting with others, but encourages attention to what is of more lasting value – who you really are when no one else is watching, who are you when alone before God.
Not much has changed since the Bible said, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”1 Samuel 6:7 NIV. Daniel was a remarkable and Godly man. As a young man, he was taken away from every previous and positive influence, where he would now be forcibly immersed in another culture, language, and learning. Read Daniel 1. Every attempt was made to reshape Daniel to comply with his new and foreign surroundings. Who would ever know? But Daniel would know and so would his God!
Daniel and his friends were impressive by anyone’s measurement. Listen to the Bible’s description of them, “. . young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.” Daniel 1:4 NIV. They were headed for promotion and every privilege.
All that they had to do was go along to get along, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself . .” Daniel 1:8 NIV. That one clear choice made him more than impressive; it made Daniel influential. Sometimes you have to decide that what you might temporarily gain by being other than what you ought to be is really not worth it. Others might not be able to tell the difference, but God can and you will.
What the king ultimately saw in Daniel was so much more than he expected. As you read the Bible’s account, you find Daniel being promoted to places of trust and prominence “because an excellent spirit was in him . . and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.” Daniel 9:3 NKJV.
The NIV describes Daniel’s excellent spirit as “exceptional qualities.” That’s what makes a person stand out from the crowd – exceptional qualities that God regards and others respect – and makes you different from those who are simply willing to run with the crowd in order to be like the crowd. Anyone can do that; you can do better, and should. Anyone can be ordinary; you can be exceptional!
My prayer for you today is that you refuse to be ordinary when you can be extraordinary.