How to Succeed in the Workforce

Read Daniel chapter 6

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (Daniel 6:4)

Daniel chapter 6 starts the transition in government from the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians, starting with King Darius. Daniel had served Nebuchadnezzar, and in Daniel chapter 4 we have the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion experience, where God humbled him by taking away his sanity and then later restored him back to power. Nebuchadnezzar’s response: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37) Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar’s son did not follow his father’s faith in God, and Daniel apparently did not serve in his court. Chapter 5 gives the story of how the kingdom of Babylon was taken away by King Darius, and foretold by Daniel.

Darius apparently knew about Daniel, as he appointed Daniel as one of his top 3 administrators over the entire kingdom. As in previous times, Daniel proved to be better than the others he served with, so the king was planning on promoting him above the others two. This was not well received by the other administrators, probably Medo/Persians who had been brought in during the conquest and were used to having things their own way, so they plotted a way to frame and malign Daniel in an effort to destroy him. The problem was that Daniel’s character was without fault in terms of corruption, and his job performance was excellent. So they had no choice but to attack him personally on the grounds of his faith, and they tricked the king into signing an executive order “that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.” Daniel, of course, did not obey this order, and continued to pray to God, his Creator.

When the king finds out that the injunction he just signed, which is irrevocable by law, was a plot to destroy Daniel, he becomes very agitated and tries to do everything he can to save Daniel. In the end, he had to obey his own law which he foolishly made. There is evidence that the fame of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and what happened to them in the furnace under King Nebuchadnezzar might have been known to King Darius, because as he has Daniel thrown into the lion’s den he says to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”

As the story turns out of course, God does save Daniel by sending an angel, just as he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel’s enemies are then destroyed by an apparently angry king. Faith in God triumphs again!

There are some very important principles from this story that we all need to take note of in terms of serving others in authority over us in an employment (or other) relationship.

1. Serve for the good of your employer, and for their success. Daniel had a high position of authority, but remember where he came from. He was a captive from Israel, and from a family of nobility that was brought to that land by force, as a prisoner of war. He was forced to serve in ungodly administrations, but that did not stop him from seeking the best for his employers, and desiring their success and contributing to their success. He did this without compromising his values and convictions, but neither did he use his faith and his values as an excuse to perform his job poorly or reluctantly.
2. Daniel upheld the highest standards possible, as if he were serving God himself and not man. This principle is also in the New Testament: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:5-8) If this exhortation is given to slaves, how much more does it apply to employees?
3. Although Daniel was in a position of high rank and high power, he apparently never abused his power or position with his employer for personal gain. There was no corruption found in him by his enemies. That is an incredible statement if you think about it. Someone of Daniel’s position would have every opportunity to just “cheat” once in a while, or do something for a friend, a favor, or something that would not otherwise be possible. He had ample opportunities to take advantage of his position and the king’s resources for personal gain and comfort. The temptations to “cut corners” and indulge just a bit would be incredible, and yet his enemies could find no corruption whatsoever with Daniel!
4. Daniel was also not “negligent” in his duties. He didn’t slack off or take it easy while on the job, but performed his job with the highest standard possible, giving his accusers nothing to complain about. He apparently maintained very high standards of excellence, and never compromised or let people off the hook for not performing their jobs.
5. Daniel was trustworthy and reliable. He was there when people depended upon him. He showed up for work every day. He did not fail to perform his duties and pass them off to others. Even though he was faithful in his worship of God his Creator, it apparently never interfered with his duties in the government. If it had, his accusers would have noted it. But instead, a special law had to be created to make worship itself illegal.

So how about you? Do you follow these principles in your own employment situation, or in other relationships where you have to serve someone in a position of authority above you? If someone decided to attack you and try to find reasons to accuse you before your employer, would they be able to dig up any dirt on you? Do you use the fact that you serve someone ungodly as a reason to not serve them wholeheartedly? Daniel followed these principles and the result was that he led kings and rulers to a faith in God, and ended up changing the world. Follow these principles in your own life, and God will use you in a mighty way also. If you are reborn into the Kingdom of Light, live your life in a manner worthy of your calling from God!

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

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When the World is Against You

Read Daniel Chapter 3

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Daniel 3:14-18)

We saw in Daniel chapter 2 that Daniel was able to successfully interpret the king of Babylon’s dream, which showed him particulars about his own kingdom and the kingdoms that were to follow. This greatly impressed the king, and he immediately recognized that Daniel’s God was someone quite different than his Babylonian gods. But he had not yet put his trust in God, his Creator. He was too caught up in himself and the power of his position which was given to him by God. He attributed his success to his own power and his own gods, so he made a golden image of himself and decreed that everyone had to bow down and worship it, trying to make himself appear as a god also. The poor guy still had a lot to learn about the one true God, the Creator of the universe.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Daniel’s three friends who had not defiled themselves by Babylonian culture, and had become government officials appointed by Daniel who served in the king’s court. There was no way they were going to bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar as a deity. So the other officials and wise men who had been humbled by Daniel and his power to interpret dreams saw their opportunity to get back at these Jewish boys. They went to the king “and maliciously accused the Jews.” The king was furious, and ordered them to comply or be thrown into a fiery furnace and die.

When we walk in the Kingdom of Light refusing to be defiled by the culture of the world system which is part of the kingdom of darkness, we go against the crowd exposing their sins and the weakness of their system. Their natural reaction is one of anger, and so persecution is the natural outcome. Daniel and his three friends had access to wisdom that only the Creator of the Universe can give through his Spirit, and it was superior wisdom to the wisdom of the Chaldeans who were limited to the knowledge available to them within the creation. So their power base and positions in society were threatened, and they had to resort to persecution to try and strike back.

Things are no different today. The world system we currently live in within western culture is built upon the false knowledge of man who looks only at the creation and develops an evolutionary foundation. The world system in Daniel’s day did acknowledge the spiritual world, but our world system today in large part does not. It only acknowledges the physical, so it rejects anything based on Spiritual knowledge coming from God, and it rejects their Creator. Their knowledge and wisdom is inferior, and when confronted with the wisdom that is revealed by the Spirit of God, the reaction is the same: persecution. This is always the natural outcome when the two kingdoms collide: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13)

The good news is that the kingdom of darkness, ruled by Satan, is no match for the Kingdom of Light, ruled by Jesus. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew this, and they knew that if they died in the furnace of fire that they had a glorious future awaiting them in God’s kingdom. So it was no problem for them to offer up their lives as a burnt sacrifice and go into the furnace. The result was that those who threw them into the furnace burned up, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were unharmed because God sent an angel to protect them, and they walked out of the furnace to the astonishment of the king. While still not putting his trust in God yet, the king had taken another step in his understanding of who God was: Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:28-30)

Are you ready for the furnace today? Is the world against you because you have chosen to not defile yourself in your culture around you? You are not alone! If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. (words of Jesus in John 15:18-19) Or is your life so similar to those in the kingdom of darkness that you are no threat to them? Could it be that you have no wisdom or power that is threatening to them, and therefore they have no reason to persecute you? Separate yourself from the world and offer yourself up to God as his living sacrifice today, so that your Creator can give you wisdom and power to fulfill the purpose for which he created you! Just be prepared for the natural outcome, which is that the kingdom of darkness will strike back.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

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The Value and Power of God’s Wisdom

Read Daniel Chapter 2

Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you…” (Daniel 2:20-23)

In Daniel chapter 1 we saw how Daniel and his friends determined to not let the Babylonian culture defile them, and how they were more concerned about pleasing their Creator and fulfilling their purpose in life by serving him, than they were in conforming to Babylonian culture. The result was that God blessed them with wisdom “ten times better” than all the other wise men serving the king of Babylon: “As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”

In Daniel Chapter 2 we see how that wisdom was used by God to start to shape the character of the king of Babylon, and how it saved the lives of Daniel and his three friends, and also many other lives. God gave the king a disturbing dream, and he desperately wanted to know its meaning. So he called all his wise men to him and asked them to interpret the dream to him, without him telling them what the dream was. Their reply was: “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." So the king became angry and ordered that all the wise men should be executed, and this included Daniel and his three friends, who apparently had not been called in on this matter (maybe they were still too young?)

When Daniel found out about the matter, he asked for some time so that he could ask God to reveal the dream to him. What followed was apparently Daniel’s first meeting with the king: Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: "I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation." The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?" Daniel answered the king and said, "No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

While Daniel was able to interpret the king’s dream which had been told to no one, he takes no credit for it. He clearly states that it was not a result of his wisdom, but that it had been revealed to him by God. The king’s response: “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery." Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court.

As we see illustrated here, there is a wisdom that does not come from human knowledge. It is not obtained by observation, or by using scientific methods. It is revealed by God, who is the Creator of the universe and stands outside of his creation, and therefore has much more wisdom than can be observed from within the creation. There was no science or academic book knowledge that could have revealed the king’s dream in such a way, and saved the lives of those whom the king was angry with. This kind of wisdom is extremely valuable and powerful. It started with Daniel deciding to not defile himself with the culture around him, but to instead keep himself pure spiritually so that God’s Spirit can dwell within him. Solomon, from whom more than likely Daniel was a descendant, also knew the value and power of this kind of wisdom, and wrote about it extensively in the book of Proverbs, particularly in chapter 8, where wisdom is personified.

As members of the Kingdom of Light, we all have access to this same wisdom because of our relationship with Jesus, our king. We too can access the value and power of this wisdom: But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"-- these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:7-14)

To receive this wisdom we must keep ourselves from defilement with the world. We must seek out this wisdom from God, who will reveal everything to us that we need to know to live our lives successfully during our short stay here on earth, fulfilling the purpose for which he created us. This wisdom, like the wisdom God gave to Daniel in learning the king’s dream, comes directly from him and not from any books – not even the Bible. The Bible contains wisdom, but only the Spirit of God can reveal it. Someone in the kingdom of darkness could memorize the entire Bible, for example, but it will not impart this kind of wisdom because it is only revealed by God’s Spirit. As a result, there are many bad interpretations of the Bible that have been made over human history that have caused great harm and suffering. This is not the fault of the Bible, but it is the fault of those who are lacking the true wisdom from God because they did not receive it through a relationship with the Spirit of God.

So if you need direction for your life today, seek out the wisdom of God! Once he reveals his personal plan for your life, act upon it. You might end up changing the world, just like Daniel did.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are… (1 Corinthians 1:26-28)

Defilement

Are you shaping the culture around you, or is the culture shaping you?

Read Daniel chapter 1.

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8)

Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were members of either the royal family (among the descendants and line of King David) or other families of nobility. They were “youths” when they were carried away from their homes in Israel into captivity in Babylon, and they were chosen to enter directly into the king’s service and go through a 3-year period of learning and preparation. As prisoners of war, they were not executed but given a chance to assimilate into the Babylonian culture and serve the king. They had to learn a new language, and a new way of life. They had no hopes of ever starting their own families, or pursuing their own goals or dreams of continuing the line of David to rule in their homeland of Israel. That was now all gone - lost. They were destined to live out their lives as servants of the king of Babylon.

But even in the worst of these circumstances, Daniel and his friends never lost their faith in God and his purposes for their lives. As is clear from this opening chapter in Daniel and in the chapters that follow, they were determined not to let the Babylonian culture change them in regards to their faith, but instead trust themselves to God and serve him, allowing God to use them to change the Babylonian culture. Babylon became their mission field – their opportunity to prove that God is worthy of our trust and will never let us down when we trust in him, and when we follow his path for our lives to fulfill the purpose for which he created us. They laid aside their personal goals and ambitions, and even their family ties, to serve God through their service to their captor.

So the first thing they determined to do was to make sure they would not be defiled by the king’s “choice food” and wine. The text here does not really say why the food and wine was defiled, but we know from other verses that there were food rituals to the pagan gods or demons of the Babylonians, and certain meats were considered unclean by the Jews according to the Law of Moses. Daniel and his friends were more concerned about offending God than they were in participating in the luxurious food that came from the king’s table and had probably been offered up to their gods. So they requested to be fed simply vegetables and water, the food of the poor which would not have been subjected to idolatrous worship and be spiritually defiled.

It would be incorrect to think that Daniel and his friends were vegetarians by principle. According to the Old Testament writings there was nothing wrong with eating proper meats or drinking wine. As members of nobility and the royal family back in Jerusalem, they would certainly have been accustomed to fine food (see a sample of what was eaten by Jewish kings in Solomon’s day in I Kings 4:22-23). In fact, the law of Moses commanded the Jews to eat meat during the sacrifices that were made at the temple. Also, Daniel later records in chapter 10: “I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.” – a meaningless statement if he was a vegetarian to begin with.

Daniel and his friends wanted to be right before God, to be used by God to fulfill his purpose in their lives. So they did not want to defile themselves with idolatrous practices in the Babylonian culture. They trusted in God, and the result was that they found favor in the eyes of the steward in charge of them who allowed them to eat and drink that which would not defile them. God honored their faith and allowed them to excel both physically and mentally more than all their peers. As we will see in the following chapters, instead of the culture changing them, they ended up changing the Babylonian culture to such an extent that the whole world was affected by their actions of faith.

The apostle Paul in the New Testament also warned those of us who are reborn into the Kingdom of Light about being defiled by our culture: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Are you being defiled by your culture today, or are you keeping yourself pure and separate so that God’s Holy Spirit can dwell in you and lead you to be a positive effect on your culture? For those of us living in the Kingdom of Light, we all have a choice: we can let the culture affect and mold us, or we can trust God and allow him to use us to positively affect our culture. But to do that we have to go against the crowd and experience persecution. Have you considered what God’s purpose was when he created you and put you on this earth? Do you have a vision of how God can use you to affect a greater influence for his kingdom? We must keep ourselves from defilement if we want the Holy Spirit to work through us, and have a positive impact on the culture and people around us. If you act just like everyone else around you who is in the kingdom of darkness, how will they see you as someone who has real hope for them in their desperate need? Are you being defiled today by certain relationships, by TV or Internet viewing, or possibly even by the choices you make for your eating habits and health care?

The time allotted to each one of us here on earth by our Creator is very short. While we must live among those in the kingdom of darkness, we are to be different from, reflecting the character of our true King Jesus. We are to love and serve those in the kingdom of darkness as representatives of the Kingdom of Light, even if they oppose us and persecute us. We must not be defiled by the things of this world, knowing that our citizenship is in heaven. If you are reborn into the Kingdom of Light and stand defiled today, forget what holds you to your past and look forward to your future, the plan that God has for your life to use you in a mighty way, by his power, and through your faith. God is not limited by your past or your failures. Follow the example of Daniel and his three friends, and determine to not let the culture defile you so you can be used by God to accomplish great things, even if you are a captive or prisoner.

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:13-21)

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Who do You Trust for Your Food?

The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Psalms 145:14-16)

He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalms 147:8-11)

Do you know where your food comes from? These verses and many others throughout the Bible clearly show us that God our Creator is the one who creates and supplies food to us. All food originates from reproducing plant life – life that God created. It takes water, air and sunlight for plants to grow, elements that God also created and regulates. The animals that become meat for our food are dependent on this same plant life, air, water, and sunlight. So as the verses above clearly state, God constantly sustains us by providing the food we need.

A friend of mine was recently recalling a dinner they had with someone who was visiting the United States from another country for the first time. When they sat down for dinner, the visitor asked, “Where did this food come from?” They replied with the name of a grocery store that was in their neighborhood. The visitor gave a puzzled look and tried to probe further to find out where and by whom the food had actually been produced, such as the region of the US and type of farm. He was surprised when his hosts could not answer such a basic question! Most people in the US likewise could not answer a question like this, because they can only trace their food back to the store they bought it from. From there it could have come from just about anywhere around the world. Eating all our food from unknown sources is a recent development in our history, however. Even the modern grocery store, which has replaced the public market, the town butcher, the daily farm deliveries, etc. - is a modern development in our history post World War II.

When Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States about 48% of the population was involved in agriculture and feeding the other half of the country. Today, less than 2% of the US population is involved in agriculture and feeding the other 98%! Do you know who these 2% are? Do you trust them to provide healthy food for you and your family? Do they understand that all food comes from God – do they even believe in God? Or do they see food as a commodity, part of the evolutionary process, a business in which to earn a profit? Do you trust the government to protect you from dangerous food that could harm you instead of nourish you? Most of us do, and without even giving it a second thought. We put our trust in the stores that provide the food, and the companies that supply it to the stores, and we believe that the government is watching out for us to make sure what we are eating is safe and healthy.

But these verses from Psalm 145 and 147 make it clear that we are to trust in God our Creator to supply our food and nourish us: His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. The strength of a horse or the strength of a man, both of which are created by God, can accomplish much in food production, as can man-made machinery in the post-industrial age. But to trust in our own strength and ability to produce food is a misguided faith. Without air, water, and sunshine – elements that man cannot create, our strength and technology are of no use. Make no mistake – God is in control, and he can withhold his blessings through drought, storms, and many other “natural” or even man-made disasters that can render our strength and technology worthless. God takes no pleasure in those who trust in themselves, or in the strength of their technology. He takes pleasure in “those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

So if you are not producing your own food, allowing God to bless you directly by trusting in his steadfast love, you have to enter into agreement with others to produce the food on your behalf. You make this agreement every time you spend your money on food. Do the people and companies that you hire to supply your food understand that food is a blessing from our loving God? Or do they believe in the evolution foundation and trust in the strength and technology of man? The answer is not so easy to know sometimes, because the food might start out being produced by farmers who might believe and understand that they are dependent upon God, but then the food gets passed on to other producers who alter and “improve” upon it along the way before it ends up in a store somewhere where you can purchase it.

It is no surprise that farmer’s markets have become increasingly more popular over the past several years. More and more people want to know where their food comes from, and to buy it in as close to its original, fresh condition as possible. Many communities today could be mostly sustained by local food sources, but people choose instead to go the more convenient and cheap route and put their faith in mass-produced industrialized foods instead. But if you are uncomfortable about the fact that so few people in the US today supply the food chain to us, there is only one thing you can do about it. Enter into other agreements with your food purchases, and hire the people you want to supply your food. It is the only way we will ever get more small-scale and in many cases family-based producers back into food production. Do your research and find ways to support those who are concerned about the quality of the food they produce, and not just the quantity and profit. It will take some extra effort on your part, but who do you trust for your food? If you trust in the major industrial suppliers in the market today, what will you do if you go to the store and the shelves are bare because their technology has failed? His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

More on this in future articles....