Thought for the day – Thursday 23rd April 2020
Daniel had every reason to feel down about his situation, he had lost everything he knew: his family, his country, the teachings and priestly worship in the temple, the annual festivals, his hopes and expectations for the future, even his name. In their place he now lived in a pagan culture, where the people worshipped idols, he was forced to learn pagan ideas and the Babylonian language, and he was forced to enter the service of the pagan king. He had no choice in any of it and there was no possibility of returning home.
In fact, the prophet Jeremiah, had prophesied that this exile would last for 70 years before God would eventually bring home his people Israel to their own land.
How would any of us have responded to this situation? How would we have coped?
Daniel could have bemoaned his fate, he could have wallowed in his misery and have got very depressed. He could have filled his book with laments and he could have continued to look back at the good times and to think of himself as being in a hopeless and godless situation, without any hope for the future. He could have blamed God, or blamed Israel for their disobedience.
But Daniel did none of those things. He continued to pray to God in every circumstance and he continued to trust Him. God showed him that he was very much present with Daniel, even in exile.
We are not to be tempted to think “when this situation has passed, then I can be happy again.” Here are a few helpful quotes:
- Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass – it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
- Happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy and you will be;
- We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.
- Happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of life.
Being thankful is very good for our mental health, as well as being good spiritually. We can learn to have a thankful spirit. One helpful exercise is that each night when you go to bed, write down 3 things to be thankful for that have happened that day. Writing them down helps you to develop a habit of thankfulness as you focus on the good things of the day – it will help you to change your mindset. It will help you to cope better when times are tough.
The New Testament tells us “Rejoice in the Lord always – and again I say, rejoice.” Phil 4:4. It may be hard ‘to be anxious for nothing’ in the growing coronavirus crisis. When the news is prolonged every day and is mainly focussed on how the virus is progressing in the UK and globally, and when our lives have become so restricted, it may feel all too easy to focus on the news about the virus. This passage in Philippians tells us to think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, or which are praiseworthy. And to meditate on such things. I’m sure that the Lord knew we would need verses like this when life is tough. If we can turn our thoughts to good things, it helps to counter-balance the news that would make us anxious and it helps us to maintain good mental health. So “rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice” – we should do it for our own mental health.
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