Daniel study, Take 2

Last night I had the privilege of talking with one of my favorite people in the world until the wee hours of the morning. (And just for the record, it was totally worth it.) One of the things we talked about reminded me of a post I have been wanting to make on here, having to do with the subject of "image building," among other things.

I got a bit off track the last time I started to blog about the Bible study I’m participating in. I ended up telling the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its fulfillment. Which I totally love, by the way! But I really wanted to briefly overview some of the points that Beth Moore has made so far in the study that have really spoken to me. Briefly. I’m totally serious. I have every intention of being brief. Wish me luck. (And keep in mind that these ideas are not mine - I'm just giving a recap of some really cool stuff I've learned from this study.)

-- Our western culture today is similar to the culture of the Babylonians, where Daniel was taken as a captive to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon’s mentality, demonstrated again and again in scripture is: "I am, and there is none besides me." (Isaiah 47:8,10 and others) (I can’t help but liken this to the "It’s All About Me" t-shirts and attitudes you see everywhere today! Believing that I, myself, am the most important thing in the universe is poisonous.)

-- As a parallel to the Babylonians who took captive the young, handsome, intelligent sons of Israelite nobility when they conquered Jerusalem, our culture is also extremely concerned with age/youth, physical appearance, intelligence, and status. We feel very "less-than" when we can’t or don’t meet our Babylon’s standards for "worthiness".

-- Many Hebrew youths were taken, including Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (who we know primarily by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). Babylon tried to indoctrinate them with intense study in magic/witchcraft, and excesses of every kind, but God Himself interpreted all they learned to their hearts - they were able to stand firm in their beliefs and priorities despite incredible pressures and temptations. Day after day. Year after year. There were many other young Israelite men taken with Daniel and his friends who were eventually absorbed into their new culture...they had so conformed that there was no mention of them in scripture after that point.

-- The statue in King Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream is fulfilled prophecy! (I made this point the last time, but that was about the only point made!)

-- When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were delivered by the Lord from the fiery furnace, nothing on them was singed (hair, clothing, etc.) except the ropes that bound their hands! A difficult trial can sometimes free us from an area of bondage, too.

-- There was not even a smell of smoke about them! Full deliverance means no longer "smelling like fire." (Convicting. How often do we carry that smoky smell of bitterness or self-pity around with us long after being delivered from the fire? Can we cease dwelling on our past trials enough that someone who finds out about them after knowing us a little would be surprised that we had been through what we’ve been through - that we don’t even "smell like fire"?)

-- When we are faced with a seriously difficult trial, we can be delivered from the fire (immediate healing, etc.), through the fire (survive by the skin of our teeth, but live to tell about it), or by the fire (into the arms of our Lord in heaven). Either way, Jesus walks beside us with every step.

-- Pride comes in many forms, but usually falls into one of two categories: performance (what I do) or abstinence (what I don’t do). Satan is sneaky and cruel, and he will try to twist even areas of joy and victory into pride and bondage.

Okay, I need to stop for now. I’m copying these ideas from the front inside cover of my book, where I’ve been jotting down some of the points that really struck me. There are still a few more to go, but for brevity’s sake (hmmm...that goal is already quickly slipping away from me at this point!) I’ll stop for now.

But here is the one in particular that I wanted to talk a little more about - image building. Here I quote Beth Moore: "The inspiration for building an image doesn’t come from the Spirit. ...for us, image building is any way we intentionally make ourselves seem different - and usually more - than we really are. Image building is the attempt to make impressions that are bigger than we are. Image building may begin with what is true but enhances that truth until it is a lie." This image building that she speaks of is bred of insecurity, and insecurity is magnified by living in our modern-day "Babylon."

I don’t know about you, but this is such a major, major struggle for me. I want to be the mom who has it all together, who is wise and kind and mature and loving, who relishes her job as a homemaker and excells in it, who doesn’t let her kids watch too much TV and always provides a healthy snack of carrot sticks and whole wheat bread to her kindergartner after school, who diligently prepares meals for her family every evening and never picks fights with her husband, who never wonders if she might be in over her head or questions whether her kids might be better off with someone else, who always has a clean house and reads her Bible every day, oh and while we’re at it, who loves to organize things and to exercise. Yeah, that’s what I want to be. But I’m not. I’m actually not any of those things. At least not all the time.

So last night, we were talking about this, and we wondered...what about those super-people who seem to have it all together? Between the two of us, we know quite a few of them. And some of them we know well enough to know that it’s real - at least some of it. (By real, I mean that their house IS actually really clean all the time, and not just when they know someone is coming to visit...they actually DO sit down as a family after supper and read long chapter books or Bible passages to their children who all listen quietly - even the 2-year-old.) But I think that everyone has areas in their own life that they see as a glaring failure, or at least in need of a lot of improvement. Maybe they’re just not as obvious as mine. And maybe mine aren’t really as obvious to everyone else as I think they are. If that’s the case, which I suspect it is, then I am building a false image of myself, and I am in sin. So I continue to struggle in presenting the true me to the world, complete with plenty of flaws, and risk judgment and ridicule and those awkward silences where you know someone thinks you’re totally incompetent.

But who do we love more, the person we admire for all his/her success and perfection - or the person who is truthful enough (or who we’re close enough to) to show us his/her struggles and what they’re learning from them?

(If you’re still reading at this point, bless your dear soul! You possess much tenacity!)

I choose truth. But for me, it’s a constant struggle and a conscious choice that must be made every day. It is so easy to slip into image building...one exaggeration or omission at a time. To God be the glory when things go well, but His grace is sufficient when I’m not all that I dearly want to be.