Christian Devotional – May 23, 2026

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 1

The resolution. Read Daniel 1:1-16.

Leading anyone or anything can be challenging all by itself. However, if you start adding on difficult circumstances and frustrating leadership, leading others can be truly daunting. We’re going to work our way through the book of Daniel and see a true leader. Daniel didn’t sign up for leadership and he wasn’t looking for it. He was taken captive and ended up in a position of leadership, and God used him in tremendous ways, even though the king he served wasn’t always following God. We can learn from him how to be a Godly leader, even when we are in harsh and challenging circumstances.

In today’s verses, we see that Daniel and his friends were in a difficult situation. They were being asked to do something that went against what God had told them to do. They were still young men and could have easily just gone with the flow of things to make it easy and keep peace, but then we have our focus verse for today, and there we see the first principle that we need to understand if we are going to be a Godly leader in the midst of challenging circumstances. Daniel was resolved.

If we are going to be a leader that doesn’t cave to circumstances around them, then we have to know what we believe and be steadfast in our decision to uphold it. That means, even when our leader doesn’t like it, we hold steadfast. Even when it’s not a popular decision, we hold steadfast. But more than that, Daniel was still polite and professional about his decision. He was firm, but was polite. We can be firm in our decision without cutting people off or belittling people.

If we are going to be a leader who stands firm in the midst of difficult circumstances, we have to know what we believe and we have to make a decision that we are going to stick with it. Then, we have be as polite and professional as possible, while still holding firm to our decision.

Are we resolved to follow God, no matter what?

Watch the video devotional here: https://youtu.be/7M77hQjYSTw