“In the first year of Darius… I, Daniel,… turned my face to the Lord, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules… To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame… because of the treachery committed against you… To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him.
“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city… O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. We do not present our pleas because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake.” Daniel 9:1-5,7,9,16,18-19
Daniel could have spent his exile in a strange land with a strange tongue in resentment, misbehavior, and complaining. He could have squandered what the Lord had given as an opportunity for great growth and witness. Instead, he invested where God had planted him for as long as that season would be. With concerted commitment, he made the most of spiritual and civil life for the good of his alien city. The Lord gave him favor and position, and from his unique position and vantage point, he made an eternal difference by leadership and prayer. (Daniel 2:48-49; 5:29; 6:10)
We are all spiritual exiles. With strife, division, and negativity peppering societies, it’s easy to sequester ourselves, live provincially, and become myopic. We stick with our people, comforts, safe places, and want nothing to do with those outside our small circle of likeminded friends. We resent the harsh places God puts us, and nurse our right to relief and ease. We grow callous and uncaring about our city, community, and nation. (1 Peter 2:11)
But God has assigned our boundaries so we would know Him deeply and out loud. Sometimes He plants us seemingly in exile in hard work situations, new towns, neighborhoods foreign to what we’ve always known, for His purposes. He calls us to faithfulness, giving great opportunity to grow in our understanding of His heart for the world and to spread His Spirit and gospel light in the dark. (Acts 17:21)
Are we prone to separate spiritual life from public industry and community involvement? Do we keep Sunday in a box and devotional life at home, never sowing God’s Spirit into our broader world? How much do we care for the people where we live and work? How do we show it? How large is our heart for the world around us, evidenced in how wide and consistent our prayers?
How will we afresh seek the welfare of our city? How are we investing in workplaces, communities, culture, individuals with the gospel? How regularly do we intercede for our leaders, and involve ourselves in service? What revival and joy of the Lord might we help usher in by His grace? (Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Lord, keep me praying for and compassionately involved in the world where You’ve placed me.
As the rain and snow 