Kristi Burchfiel

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 48 Frustration. Read Daniel 6:14-16. I’ve heard frustration defined as the realization that there is no one to blame but yourself. When you find yourself in a situation that you don’t like, but that you caused, that can be tremendously frustrating. That is exactly where the king found himself. The king liked Daniel. The king considered Daniel his most trusted adviser. The king was planning to promote Daniel. And now, the king finds himself as the probable cause of Daniel’s destruction. The king realizes he has been deceived by his other advisors who were operating out of jealousy. The king spends all day trying to…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 47 The whiners. Read Daniel 6:12-13. Every parent has dealt with the whiny child. This is the child that always is upset about something someone else is getting. They always feel like they have gotten the short end of the stick. They are constantly complaining about what’s going on with everybody else around them, instead of worrying about themselves. These men had set a trap for Daniel and now it was time for them to go and to whine about it to the king. They explained to the king that Daniel was breaking the law. At first glance, it might look like they’re just looking…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 46 The trap. Read Daniel 6:11. When I think of setting a trap, I typically think of trying to catch a troublesome rodent, or some other pest. In this case, these men felt Daniel was the pest, and they set a trap to catch him. Once the king put this law into place, the very next thing that they did was go and look and see if Daniel was doing what he always does? Was Daniel praying to God? They went as a group. This was organized and orchestrated and premeditated. They had laid the trap for Daniel, and Daniel had continued to do what…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 45 No change. Read Daniel 6:10. What do you do when you receive word that the things that you thought you could do, your routine, and your rights and liberties have been changed? I will tell you what Daniel did. He kept doing exactly the same thing he had been doing. There was no change. Daniel heard about the new rule from the king. He understood what the new rule meant. But, he didn’t alter his routine, his beliefs, or his practice. Daniel was a follower of Christ and he was going to follow Christ no matter what the ruling from the king was. We…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 44 “Everyone agrees.” Read Daniel 6:6-9. It’s always dangerous to start out a phrase with, “everyone agrees,” especially if everyone is not present. These leaders were trying to frame Daniel. They didn’t want Daniel to be in the position of power that he was in and as a result, they were trying to concoct a way to discredit him. When they came to the king, they made the king believe that every single one of all of these advisers all felt the same way. Daniel was one of those people. Daniel would have been included in that list of people and obviously they had not…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 43 Upright character. Read Daniel 6:1-5. A new king is on the scene. As we closed out chapter 5, we saw that the previous king had been killed, and a new king from a new kingdom is now in control. This new king has recognized the leadership that Daniel brings to his position, and he has given Daniel an opportunity to be in charge of several areas. God continues to bless Daniel, and people are noticing it. The king recognizes that anything he gives to Daniel will be blessed, so he starts to give Daniel more and more responsibility. However, others don’t like that very…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 42 The fulfillment. Read Daniel 5:30-31. God didn’t waste any time in moving forward with the judgment that he had shared. Less than a day passed before God made good on the result of the judgment of the king. The king is killed. Another king and kingdom take its place. Understanding the timing of God’s judgment can be confusing. There are times where we see people do horrible things and life continues on for years. Other times, we see difficult circumstances and challenging situations occur to people who seemed to be doing well. God sees all situations and God knows the heart of every individual.…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 41 The results. Read Daniel 5:29. Daniel gave the king the message from the Lord. It wasn’t a happy message. It wasn’t something the king would get excited about. So what were the results of this message? The king gave Daniel the rewards that he promised. Daniel was given honors and accolades forecast for interpreting the message from the Lord. It’s interesting to note that there was one result that was missing. The king did not repent. Previously, when Daniel had brought these kinds of messages to King Nebuchadnezzar, the king would repent and would acknowledge the Lord. In this case, this king did not…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 40 Truth. Read Daniel 5:25-28. Telling the truth is not always as easy as it sounds. In fact, there are many times when it would have been so much easier to have either omitted the truth or just told somebody what they wanted to hear instead of the truth. Daniel faced this circumstance. The message he was giving to the King was not a good message. The king was not going to enjoy hearing this, and yet, Daniel walked through piece by piece explaining the message that God had given the king. This king’s rule was going to end. His kingdom was going to be…

Leading Through Challenging Circumstances, Day 39 Therefore… Read Daniel 5:23-24. The way the English language is set up, anytime you see the word, “therefore,” you should always double check the information that was listed before it. All that information is tremendously relevant to whatever is going to come after the “therefore.” That information is the reason behind the word. When you look at these two verses, we see a huge list in verse 23 of all the things that the king was doing wrong. All of the sins that he was committing were listed out. Daniel explains that because of all of these sins, that is why God brought this…