As I contemplated going on a mission trip across the world, fundraising was forefront in my mind. I was tempted to seek God’s financial help before I even sought His will about the trip. It can be easy to neglect loving God for who He is and to instead focus on what He can do for us. We get so caught up in our needs that we forget His worship-worthy nature. In a world focused on needs, God calls us to dwell on His character. 

Beautiful examples of adoration based upon the character of God are found in the life of Daniel. Daniel was taken away from his homeland and people, was mocked by those around him, was immersed in a new and competitive culture, was threatened and tortured, and still praised God. I’ve been reading through the book of Daniel, and I keep marveling at how Daniel pursues God even when he is not directly seeing God’s actions. Daniel’s love for God is based on the character of God, not based on the actions of God in response to the needs of Daniel. His love for God revolves around God, not himself. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Daniel and three of his companions are taken out of their homeland and brought to Babylon. Talk about changing circumstances! It would have been so easy for them to focus on their needs instead of God’s character. However, Daniel and his friends chose to serve God by not eating the delicacies of Babylon that God had told their people to abstain from. God reveals that Daniel “resolved” (1:8) not to eat the forbidden foreign food and then took the necessary actions to make that resolution a reality. 

In the face of changing circumstances and growing needs, let us grow more and more aware of our unchanging Savior. His character and will are worthy of adoration, obedience, and pursuit. Let us, like Daniel, resolve to adore God in whatever circumstances He places us. Adoration will look different for each of us, but the heart of it remains the same as we focus on God and allow that focus to influence our everyday lives and choices.