I’ve been reading through the book of Daniel. I love the stories. It’s really the stuff of movies. It’s a story of four teenage guys taken from their homeland and put through a systematic process to exterminate their previous culture and thinking. They are under the thumb of one of the most powerful kings who has ever walked this earth. The result? Daniel and his buddies bring the most powerful man in the world continually to the realization that their God is far different and far more powerful than anything Nebuchadnezzar has ever known.

 

It’s easy to feel marginalized in life. When confronted with the powers of this earth, let alone the powers of heaven, it’s easy ask, “how important am I.”

 

Daniel asked that question. Towards the end of the book of Daniel, an elderly Daniel sits wasting away in obscurity wondering out loud what this whole charade was about. In the midst of his grief, an angel comes to him with these words, “I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.” (Daniel 9:23)

 

The game was big that God was playing with the Babylonians and the great kings who ruled them. And yet, it is Daniel who God calls “highly esteemed.” It would be through Daniel that messages would be delivered to these kings. It would be through Daniel that the future would be foretold of the great kingdoms yet to come, kingdoms that our history books know well today.

 

God has a plan for us. The plan is not about us. The plan is about Him and the story that he writes through those who follow and rebel against Him alike. We are His pen upon the pages of history. To be esteemed in this plan is the great blessings for those who call Him Lord.

 

We may not influence kings or foretell the fall of kingdoms. However, His plans both big and small in our eyes are of far more relevance than our minds can conceive. For those know Jesus, we have been given the honor of fighting for the hearts of those who don’t yet know Him alongside the King who has Himself won our hearts.

 

We are esteemed in Christ. Make no mistake about. Unbroken Joy is the mantra of our journey.