What would you have done in these situations?

As you observe people in various situations, do you ever humbly ask yourself, “What would I have done in this situation?” It is a hard question to ask, if you ask it in humility. Instead, the easy way to respond to something we see is to pridefully say, “I would have done it this way. I think he/she is…” That sentence could end with any number of words like: stupid, mistaken, wrong, ignorant, shortsighted, unwise, unfaithful, and so forth. In other words, you observe a situation and make a judgement about multiple components (even though you may not realize it) of the situation without being in it, knowing what a person was thinking, understanding the variables you know nothing about, or knowing the motivation of the individual. Yet, you quickly make a decision as to what you would do? Instead, in today’s post, let me ask you in humility to look in the mirror and consider, “What would you have done in these situations?”

The Situations

For the situations, let’s begin with some familiar ones to you. There are three.

• Choosing to eat or not eat the king’s menu plan

When Judah was captured by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring young, smart, noble, wise, good-looking, and discerning young men to Babylon with them. In other words, he captured the best young men that Judah had to offer in order to put them into his service on the king’s court. This meant that they would be castrated, put in school to learn the language, literature, and customs of the Babylonians, and would have to eat the king’s menu plan for three years. The menu plan included the king’s delicacies and wine.

As I read that situation, I would object to many things in that paragraph. My frustration would potentially be through the roof. Think of it – slavery, castration, mind control, brainwashing, coercive persuasion, homesickness, and a forced name change. In this situation, it may be easy to overlook the menu plan. Arguably, the menu plan would sound the best for many people.

What would you have done in this situation?

Four of the undisclosed number of captives from the best of the best in Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four, and only these four, chose to accept the things they could do nothing about (which were many in this situation as slaves) and honor God with their choices where they could. As you probably know, the place highlighted in the book of Daniel relates to the menu plan. Instead, they asked to be excluded from the menu plan, and they worked out a plan to do so.

Again, humbly, what would you have done in this situation? Of the undisclosed amount of young men all in the same situation, only four chose to honor God in their menu choices.

 

• You know something no one else has a clue about

In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all face death. The king dreamed a crazy dream, but he could not remember it. He demanded all of his wise men, soothsayers, and magicians what the dream was and its interpretation. They explained to him that what he wanted to know was impossible for any person to know. This answer displeased the king so much that he demanded they all be put to death. However, remember, Daniel, his three friends, and all the other young men who were stolen out of Judah and taken captive belonged to that group. This meant that Daniel and his friends faced death like the rest.

Daniel objected to dying by asking if he could have a shot at interpreting the dream. He prayed and asked God to give him the interpretation of it. And. God. Did. In a night vision, Daniel received the dream and its interpretation from God. As the story continues, Daniel provided the dream and its interpretation to the king. With the dream and its interpretation, the king chose not to kill Daniel or any of the others in his group, but, instead, make Daniel the number two person in the kingdom and promote Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as governors over the provinces in the kingdom.

In this situation, what would you have done? How would you have handled it?

When you received the dream and its interpretation, and when you received the praise from the king, and  when you were promoted to the number two person in the kingdom, how would you have responded? Is it possible you would have thought yourself to be something? Would you have allowed the king to think higher of you, rather than direct his attention toward God? What would you have done?

Daniel praised God immediately alone before God. Further, he pointed the king to God instead of his own wisdom – so much so the king glorified God.

Again, humbly, what would you have done in this situation? Would you have insisted all the glory go to God or would you have been a glory hog?

 

• The choice to not serve an idol

In Daniel 3, the three friends of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, face a critical choice. We do not know how many of the others who came from Judah were in the crowd, nor do we know where Daniel was when this situation took place. What we do know – Nebuchadnezzar builds a tall golden statue of himself and demands that everyone bows down to that idol when the music plays in order to worship him. As the king strikes up the band, everyone assembled bows down except Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Everyone. But, not these three.

Seeing an opportunity to get them demoted, several Babylonians immediately complained to the king that these three Hebrews did not bow down. The king called them over to ask them about it. They simply said – in my words, “No need to strike up the band again, because we will not serve you or any of your gods.” As you can imagine, this angered the king. He was so angry that he fired up the fiery furnace hotter than it had ever been and demanded to throw the three Hebrew children into this fire.

In this situation, what would you have done? How would you have responded?

Would you have bowed down while asking God to forgive you? Is it possible you would have reasoned with God that you could do more for His children if you were alive than dead so you were going to bow down but not mean it? Where were all the other Hebrews? Why did only these three not bow down?

God graciously saved them and brought Himself glory in this situation. I encourage you to read Daniel 3 for all the details – especially how they described the circumstance to the king.

Humbly ask yourself, what would you have done when faced with death for not bowing down to some stupid image that does not mean anything anyway?

 

• The choice to pray or not to pray

Our final situation comes from Daniel 6. In this situation, a plot was hatched between all the jealous Babylonians against Daniel. They knew he prayed three times a day and wanted to set a trap for him. Therefore, they chose to get the king to make a decree (remember, the laws of the Medes and Persians). They told him that they all agreed it would be a great idea that for the next thirty days if anyone prays to any god or man, except to him, should be cast into the den of lions. The king thought this would be a great idea, thus he made the decree.

In this situation, if you were Daniel, what would you have done? Would you have been willing to suspend all praying for thirty days?

Daniel chose to keep praying with his window open just as he always had. As soon as he did, the trap caught him. The jealous others brought him before the king accusing him of defying the king. Since it was a law that could not be changed or without any exceptions, Daniel faced the lions den.

Again, in this fourth situation, what would you humbly have done? Would you have chosen in this situation to simply not pray for thirty days as normal, but instead just pray in your heart?

A Dose of Humility

If we were wise, we would all look at these four incidences and humbly ask ourselves, “What would we have done?”

It is easy to assume you would have acted just as these four. The reality, though, is different. You don’t know. We do not know what happened to all the other Hebrew young men.

If this is true in these Bible stories, how much more true are they for all the people around you? Is it possible that you have a habit of pridefully looking around at others and judging their actions, motives, and thoughts, when, in reality, you do not know any of these things for certainty, especially in those places where there is no biblical commandment? Would it not be better to humbly pray for others who are in a tough situation, pray with them, ask good questions to them when wise and necessary, and trust them into God’s care? Regardless, for sure, the beginning place is to in humility recognize there is more that we do not know about people and situations than what we do know; therefore, we need to walk in humility with others rather than judge them in pride.

Ouch. I’ve been here before. Maybe, many times. God help me to do better in this area.

 

---

Become a Patron!

Become a Patron Supporter…

Would you consider becoming a partner with this ministry to help offset the cost of the blog. This blog is a work of love; any gift of support continues to make this work possible. Thank you for considering a partnership. Learn more here.