The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego has always been one of my favorites. As a child, I loved the story’s sense of adventure. As a teen, I was moved by the three Hebrew children’s determination and conviction. But as an adult, it’s the hidden part of their story that speaks to me.
In Andrew’s new teaching, An Excellent Spirit, he talks about this hidden part of their story:
Everybody would like to have the benefits that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had. [But] it says right here (Daniel 6:3) that the reason he was promoted was because he had an excellent spirit…. Everybody would like [promotion] , but not everybody does the things that produce an excellent spirit…. God is not the one who determines whether you have an excellent spirit!
I’ve seen the truth of that statement in my own life. When I turned sixteen, I prayed for a job. And when God gave me the opportunity to work somewhere besides fast food, I jumped on it.
I started working for minimum wage, wrapping Christmas presents in a ritzy gift shop downtown. Sooner than anticipated, the holiday rush was over, and my hours dwindled. With no other skills to speak of, it began to look like I would lose my job. So, I made a point of learning new skills every time I was on the schedule. I cleaned the windows. I swept the floor. I took out the trash. I dusted shelves. I spent all of my time organizing supplies or finding lost merchandise in our behemoth of a storage room. And I kept my job.
All that time spent in the backroom made me very familiar with our product, and before long, my coworkers started asking questions to which I knew the answers. My confidence grew, and I began taking on more responsibilities. I learned how to display merchandise, write tickets, and work the cash register. I learned how to manage customer accounts and interact with them on the phone. I even started placing reorders. Soon, my boss took notice.
Andrew says,
I’m telling you, God made every one of us to succeed. Now, this is relative to what God’s will is for you. He may not call you to do [what I’m doing], but He has called you to greatness…. If you’re working in a business, God wants you to be the best worker there is. If you [work] with an excellent spirit, as Daniel did, I guarantee you, it would be just a short period of time until somebody would see that excellence, and they would set you over the entire deal.
It’s true! One day when I arrived at work, my boss called me into her office to give me a list of jobs to complete while she was gone. “Roxanne,” she added as we finished, “I just officially made you the manager. See you when I get back.” I was seventeen.
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luke 16:10
