Gratitude In The Mundane

There is this story in the Bible of a man named Daniel who was a stand up guy. He is described as “faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.” (Daniel 6:4) King Darius who was ruling the land, decided to put Daniel in charge of his whole kingdom because of who Daniel was. There were several other government officials who didn’t like Daniel and wanted him out.

The only thing they had on Daniel was that he believed in God and prayed to Him regularly. They manipulated King Darius to create a law that all people living under his rule could not pray to anyone but him for 30 days. The punishment for breaking this rule was to be thrown into a den of lions.

Do you know how Daniel responded to the news?

“But when he [Daniel] learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to God.” (Daniel 6:10)

Daniel did end up in the lions’ den because King Darius had no choice despite his best efforts to save Daniel from this awful situation. The next morning, King Darius hurried to the lions’ den to see if God had rescued Daniel and He did!

The Bible says, “The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.” (Daniel 6:23)

The thing that impacts me the most about Daniel’s story is that He chose to pray and give thanks to God three times a day, every day.

Even on the days that were full of mundane activities like grocery shopping, getting the oil changed in his car, doing laundry, and walking the dog. It was a normal part of his routine.

When faced with a massive challenge, he didn’t become frantic with worry or stress about the outcome. He responded the way he usually did: he prayed and thanked God.

It is normal for me to forget about God and not acknowledge Him in the everyday things of life. On busy days, I regularly allow my to-do list to keep me from being with God. And when challenges in life come, I usually freak out, overthink, and worry myself into unhealthy levels of stress.

Daniel has taught me that:

Choosing gratitude in the mundane is what leads to being able to respond with gratitude in the face of trials.