Anne Graham Lotz - The Daniel Key: 20 Choices That Make All the Difference

E very day we make multiple choices, from the time we choose to get out of bed in the morning, to the time we choose to go back to bed in the evening. Some choices are practical, some are emotional, some are social. But the ones that make all the difference in life are our moral and spiritual choices. These choices, in a very real way, determine our character and our success as human beings.

Choices are like a spiritual, moral workout. In a physical workout, to strengthen my upper body, I do a series of repetitions with stiff rubber bands. If I pull the band once or twice, I could say it doesnt make any difference, so why go to the trouble? Just one or two pulls actually dont make any difference. But if I pull on them again and again, in a series of repetitions, day after day, they effectively begin to build muscle mass. The difference can actually become visible as I grow stronger.

Like pulling on those bands, our choices are effective when made again and again, day after day. The repetition of right choices builds our character and strengthens our faith. The repetition of wrong choices can weaken and destroy us. Increasingly, others will be able to see the difference our choices are making.

Daniel was a man who made right choices again and again. Many of us grew up knowing Daniel as the courageous man whose steadfast belief in the one true God got him thrown into a lions denand also saved him from those hungry lions. But Daniels miraculous adventure in the lions den was just one brief episode in a life that stretched for decades, included several other miracles, and changed history. From Heavens perspective, there is surely no greater prophet in the Old Testament than Daniel.

Daniel was taken into captivity with the nation of Judah when he was just a teenager. He lived the rest of his life as a slave in Babylon. As such, Daniel wasnt free to make many choices. But the choice he could and did make at a very early age was to place his faith in God. That initial choice was followed by many others, some of which were hard, critical, and even death-defying. But the end result was a man whose character and faith were so strong that he stands out as a colossal giant in history.

In this little book, I share twenty of the key choices I found as I studied the life of Daniel when I wrote The Daniel Prayerchoices that were keys to his success. They are choices that not only work today, but that will also make all the difference in whether you and I are sterling in character, strong in our faith, and successful in lifefrom Heavens perspective.

CHAPTER 1
Faith MAKES A DIFFERENCE

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

HEBREWS 11:6

F aith is not a gift that some people have been given and others have not. Faith is a choice that becomes a lifestyle of trusting God.

This wonderful truth reminds me of a favorite story. Its about the French tightrope walker Charles Blondin, the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. The cable stretched 1,300 feet across and far above the raging waters straddling the border between the United States and Canada. When he made it across, crowds on both the American and the Canadian sides roared at his success.

Blondin walked across the falls several more times on subsequent dates. On one of those dates, he prepared to push a wheelbarrow across the rope. The crowds cheers grew louder and more enthusiastic as he asked his roaring fans, Do you think I could carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?

Absolutely! was the confident response.

Okay, said Blondin. Who wants to get in?

At that question, the crowd was quiet. No one volunteered.

Everyone in the crowd had said they had faith that Blondin could carry a man over the falls in his wheelbarrow, but that so-called faith evaporated when they were asked to sit in the wheelbarrow.

Real faith is more than just wordsor rituals or going to church or having a religion or believing there is a God. Real faith gets in the wheelbarrow: real faith backs up a confident declaration with actions, or its not real faith (James 2:20). Like exercising a spiritual muscle, real faith grows as we make choice after choice after choice. Those choices can make all the difference.

I made my first real choice of faith when I was eight or nine years old. After watching a film about the life of Christ, I chose to confess to God in prayer that I knew I was a sinner, that I was sorry, and that I was claiming the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross as His sacrifice for my sin. I asked Him to forgive me, then I invited Jesus to come into my heart and life.

This choice led to a second choice to read my Bible daily. Besides strengthening my small seedling of faith, this practice began my lifelong love affair with the Scriptures.

That choice led to another choice I made when I was about fifteen. I was with a group of friends listening to a guest speaker at the church where I was raised.