Thriving In Babylon By Larry OsborneSample

What God Wants

I’ve always loved the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. It contains God’s Hall of Fame. It’s filled with the stories of faithful heroes. It starts out listing the famous greats like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. But toward the end of the chapter, there’s a sudden shift. Instead of continuing to list victorious heroes, the author turns his attention to those who didn’t fare so well.

He speaks of faithful people who were rewarded with jeers and floggings, chains and imprisonment. He points to others who were stoned, sawed in two, or killed by the sword. He recalls those who spent the bulk of their life destitute, wandering in deserts, or living in caves.

Then he makes this shocking statement: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” In other words, their spiritual victory didn’t come in this lifetime. It was found in the next.

There’s always a danger in studying a victorious saint like Daniel because we can jump to the conclusion that if we do what he did, we’ll get what he got.

But that may or may not be true.

We may emerge victorious like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Daniel. Or we may be persecuted, martyred, marginalized, and exiled like the unnamed but faithful saints listed at the end of Hebrews 11. The final outcome is up to God. It’s out of our hands.

Our job is not to win the battle. It’s to follow God’s battle plan.

There will be times when following God’s plan doesn’t seem to be working. But to those who have Daniel-like wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord, that doesn’t matter. Even when God’s way seems to lead nowhere, it’s still the right path to take. He’s always right, even when we think he’s wrong. That’s why we call him God.

I like the way the writer of Proverbs put it.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes.”

Winning or losing is not the right scorecard. Obedience is. When we do the right thing, we’re being faithful. Even if we get the wrong results.

*Are you willing to follow God’s plan, even if you never see the fruit?

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