It's All in the Name

Sorry for the delay in my blogging. Being 9 months pregnant and sick with a sore throat/cough/cold can take a bit out of you. Whew! But now that I'm feeling better, I am ready and anticipating the arrival of Baby Daniel.

I was laying in bed the other day pondering the meaning of our expected little one's name in relation to the Daniel in the Bible. After digging deep into the book of Daniel through Beth Moore's study (amazing study, btw), there are so many words I would link with that name. The first one would be "integrity." Was Daniel not the most upright man (aside form Jesus, of course)? Although I am sure he had faults, as well all do, I don't think one is recorded anywhere. The other word I was thinking was "faithful." No matter what this man faced, he did not waver in his faith. The list of words can continue... courageous, prayerful, wise, discerning, obedient, and so on. Wow! But do you know what the actual meaning of the name Daniel is?

"God is My Judge"

After thinking about it some more, I thought of how amazing it truly is... Daniel did what he did for ONE - God alone! His integrity was not for the King, his faithfulness was not for his peers from Israel that were dragged to Babylon with him, his courage, his prayers, his obedience - it was all for God alone, his Judge.

I can't help but look at my character and question if my heart is always in the right place. Is who I am because of God alone? I have always loved this quote on character:

"Character is who we are and how we act when no one is watching"

My prayer is that God alone is my focus, the One I desire to please. He is my Judge as well.

HIS Voice... Anticipated

"I will climb up to my watchtower
      and stand at my guardpost.
   There I will wait to see what the Lord says
      and how he will answer my complaint."
                                                          Habakkuk 2:1

So I am one week into my new Women's Bible Study "Discerning the Voice of God" by Priscilla Shrier. I feel like I have learned so much and am excited about what God will do in my heart over the next 5 weeks. The first day of study challenged us with the question, "Do we anticipate the voice of God?" Wow, was I convicted. Where was my faith? There were so many times in my life, or when I was priviledged to share the burden in someone's else's life, that I stood confident on God's promises to work all things out for good. I knew that He was doing something... that it would be for my good... that it would be for His glory... and I just had to be patient and trust. (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20, Jeremiah 29:11)  So why have I never stood on every scripture that He would speak to me? For years I have been missing out due to my own lack of faith.

As I read through the rest of the week's studies and learned more and more about this, my desire grew and grew. I kept thinking that my wonderful husband, Mark, wouldn't go even just one day without speaking to me... how much more does my Lord love me and want to speak to me every day!

As my small group (love those girls) gathered to discuss this, someone shared how often we expect the voice of God to be this thunder in our lives and how we can miss His gentle whispers. I couldn't help but think of God's chosen people, Israel, anticipating their Savior, the King of kings, returning to save them - but they put God in a box... a big beautiful box of royalty, but still a box... by expecting this powerful King to sweep in from the heavens. However, they missed Him... the babe born in a manger, raised as a carpenter's son, spent his days with fisherman, and then humbly dies on a cross. I don't want to miss Him too! It makes me more aware to stand on that watch tower, not as concerned by the armies thundering towards me, but the gentle breeze of HIS VOICE.

Lord, I will wait patiently for You to speak to me... 

with faith that You will, 

ready to listen, 

ready to respond and obey.