By Evangelist Wil Rice IV
From the Branding Iron of the Bill Rice Ranch June-July 2012, Vol. 51—No. 3 (Used with permission)
While World War II is the historical context in which most people see Winston Churchill, the reason he is remembered at all is not because of what happened to him but because of what he caused to happen. Churchill had never been a man passively waiting for history to hand him his script. He was a man of action. As he stated, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”
While history’s best actors may have been people who played their roles well, they were also people who acted on the best scripts. Think of Daniel. He was handed two competing scripts, neither of them offered in the midst of ideal conditions. The conquering king of Babylon took Daniel from his home to distant Babylon where he fed, taught, and even named Daniel in an attempt to make him conform to Babylon’s script.
While Daniel had few powers as a slave, he did have the power that belongs to each of us: he had the power of choice. Daniel must have realized that God had made him intentionally for a purpose. Daniel had the choice to passively accept the script Babylon handed him or to actively live the life God made him to live, even there in Babylon.
As you probably know, even in captivity Daniel lived with more purpose and power than the kings he outlived. Daniel’s influence spanned kings and kingdoms because he lived up to his potential. He did this by living up to God's purpose for him rather than living down to the world’s expectations.
God rules in the affairs of people and nations, and there is a big difference between being a person of faith and being a victim of fate. Do not allow a pious passivity to replace an active faith to launch out and play your part in dependence on God. This active faith is especially crucial in your own home.
A godly and earnest father was once asked how he could be certain that his kids would turn out well. “Because I am raising them,” was his reply. That statement would be arrogance on his part if it were based on his own ability, but the statement was faith in action if it was based upon God’s ability. As it turns out, he wasn’t so much saying, “ I intend to write our story” as he was saying, “I intend to act on the Scriptures God gave us with the confidence that He will honor His Word.”
Do any of us suppose that we want our children to be saved more than God does? Would anyone presume to say that there is a parent on earth who wants his or here children to be godly more than God Himself wants that? Do you think that the world’s system is anything other than ruthlessly active in their pursuit of your family? No!
Then the question today is, “Who will write your story?” If we are really living by faith, then we don’t have to accept the world’s script. We can act on God’s.
