Living an Extraordinary Life
Have you ever stopped to ponder what it means to live a great life?
How does that look? What have you done to help define an extraordinary life? How are you living now so that you’re able to look ahead toward the future with confidence knowing that you’ve done all you can today to be a great person?
Pondering this question makes me think of Daniel in the bible.
Scripture tells us according to Daniel chapter 1 that the Lord himself delivered the kingdom of Judah (Daneiel's homeland) into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar who was the king of Babylon. In so doing Daniel along with other young noblemen was sent to Babylon to assist the king in running the nation. Now as the story unfolds, we see signs of a young man who has certain characteristics that are a secret of sorts to you and me as we too strive to be the best we can be.
First, we see that Daniel was Committed. He was determined to live by principles he valued and in so doing took a great risk in refusing the food allotted to him by the king himself. Instead, he chose vegetables and water, and the result after 10 days was amazingly in his favor and even surprised the king. Secondly, Daniel was Competent. The King himself declared Daniel 10 times better at answering his questions than the best people in his kingdom. And third; Daniel was Brave. Daniel stood up for truth and we see that God honored this by giving him answers to dreams and complex problems.
Committed, Competent, and Courageous. Do these words describe you?
While it’s not everything required to live an extraordinary life, I believe that if Daniel were here right now, he would challenge us. I think he would say start with the simple things. Give yourself grace. Begin to press into who God has made you to be. I believe he would say that in the small things, you’ll find the key to the big ones. Slowly, day by day God is at work in us. Building us and shaping us. Will you partner with God in this journey? Ponder this scripture if you will. Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Daniel would go on to serve under a total of 4 different Kings. Something nearly completely unheard of.
Your next decisions will either lead you toward greatness and extraordinary or away from it. Live your best life right now today!
-Robin Horst
