Daniel: Purposed in his Heart

acrylic, 8x10

Jerusalem had fallen. Israel was being taken into captivity in Babylon. Her fate was one she brought on herself. She had never followed God wholeheartedly for more than a generation at a time. Now generations had come and gone without much thought for Him. So He let her go her chosen way with the consequences that followed.

But in the chaos and trauma, there was one boy who understood. Seeing the destruction and hurt, he could have bitterly cursed God as God had cursed man... but God gave him wisdom beyond his years. By that wisdom, he saw truth--the truth that God loved Israel and sorrowed to see her turn away to other gods. As he was led away to Babylon, he remembered the suffering he witnessed as a result of his nation rejecting her loving God. And the boy we still know as Daniel resolved in his own heart to hold fast to the Lord wherever He might lead.