“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” - Daniel 12:13
What has your heart worried about these days? Are you a little nervous at the thought of how a new president might lead our country or how some Americans might react to that leading? Do you look at the acts of violence shared on the news each night and wonder, “What next, Lord?” Or are there troubles closer to home: difficulties in your present congregation or family struggles?
Daniel had certainly faced troubles, too. He had lived most of his life under the hand of a foreign government that had destroyed his homeland! Then, as things are just turning around for the nation of Israel, God inspires Daniel to write about more troubles that would come. This ruler would depose that ruler. Large armies would fight one another. And to top it all off, at the beginning of chapter 12, God says, “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” What kind of trouble might that mean?
As we Christians live in these end times, we can only speculate. Is this the worst it will get, or are we like the early Christians, who thought the end must be near in the atrocities they witnessed, only to be succeeded by many more generations who would also live through times of trouble and persecution? We don’t know the answers to these questions, but through God’s Word, we do know how to cope. When all had been said and done and God had revealed all these things to Daniel, he finished by inspiring Daniel to write, “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”
God is in essence telling Christians, “In the midst of all this, your job is to simply go your way. Do the things to which you have been called in your daily lives. I’ve got this!” Aren’t those words comforting? We know they are true because of what God has already accomplished for us! When Jesus died on the cross, all at the perfect time, he took away the greatest problem the world had ever faced. More personally, he washed away the greatest trouble you or I would ever have. In Jesus’ death and our baptism into that death, each of us has been told, “You are no longer separated from God because of your sins. Jesus’ perfect life is now your perfect life. Jesus’ perfect robe, unmarred by any sin or effect of sin, is the robe you wear!” We are surrounded daily by troubles of all kinds, but trusting his promise to take care of us and clothed in his grace that promises he already has, we follow God’s direction to simply “go our way.”
So, dear sisters in Christ, what is your “way” today? Is your “way” working a part-time or full-time job, using your gifts and talents to help support your family? Is your “way” helping at church as organist, choir director, or Sunday School teacher? Is your “way” feeding babies, resolving preschool-sized conflicts, and getting some kind of lunch on the table? Depending on your season in life, your current “way” might be any or all of these or something different altogether! Whatever your way, though, God says, “Go your way!”
As we live in this sin-sick world, wondering what new trouble might be on the horizon, perplexed at the images flashed before us in the news, with his help, we do what God has called us to do. We go to work, help our husbands, feed our kids, clean our bathrooms, all in his name. The last part of the passage reminds us of where to fix our eyes as we do all of these things: on heaven! God says, “You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” Before we know it, the day will come when our current “ways” aren’t ours anymore. Someone else will be going to work, someone else will be feeding babies, someone else will be loving and supporting a pastor husband while we sit next to ours in the pew, waiting for the rest Jesus promises. Even then, by God’s grace, we’ll still be going our way, doing what God has called us to in that season and remembering that our real “way” is always the way toward the inheritance that awaits, for Jesus’ sake.
Ask the Lord
Dear Lord Jesus,
When we take in the sights and sounds of the world around us, we can be tempted to doubt your ruling hand. Forgive us Lord, for our lack of trust in you. Lift our eyes heavenward, reminding us of the allotted inheritance that awaits us because of your sacrifice on the cross. And, as we await heaven, help us to faithfully do the work you have called us to do, entrusting all things to your almighty care. In your name we pray all this, Amen.
Melissa Berg
St. Paul's, Rapid City, SD
