Did we have a choice or did we get pushed? The path of our personal lives is continually altered as we get bumped and prodded into different circumstances. No average person these days ever plans a flat tire, a power outage, a broken bone, a dented fender, or an unexpected billing. Events of this unwelcome variety irritate and augment our otherwise busily scheduled lives.

Often we chafe at the irritations of life, but often they are God’s path to a new opportunity.

Perhaps you are familiar with the time King Nebuchadnezzar was planning to kill all the country’s wise men since none of them could tell him his dream and its interpretation without any hints. The other wise men attempted to coax clues as to the dream, but without success. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were also on this death list. To call this a slight interruption to their normal schedule would be an understatement, but it was this very event that brought Daniel to the attention of the king and into prominent political position. Daniel didn’t seek his opportunity as much as he was pushed into it by God.

After Daniel is shown the revelation of the king’s dream by God, he states, “Praise be to the name of God for even and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with Him.” (Daniel 2:20-22 NIV)

We live in an age where we desperately need wisdom and discernment going forward. When I was younger my peers would share their dreams of becoming doctors, policemen, or prominent political leaders, but I am led to believe children and youth of our day are much less likely to desire positions of responsibility and leadership.

I believe we need a number of individuals in our day to sense the push of God. We certainly need them in all areas of Christian ministry, from positions of pastor to positions of nursery workers. We also need dad and moms to understand the push of God to serve as intentional parents in their own homes. We need those who understand the push of God, if God is leading, toward becoming police officers, teachers, sponsors of immigrants, or as other agents of grace and justice. To take on a role of significance needs to come more from the push of God than from personal ambition.

God reveals the deep and hidden things … and there is a path through the middle of the interrupting circumstance that now faces us. Let us seek God’s help in understanding His purposes in the middle of situations not of our own choosing. Let us let ourselves be pushed.

Rev. Dennis Stone