When our husband or wife or anybody else for that matter is doing something on a regular basis that bothers us, hurts our feelings, makes us feel bad, or offends us, we can attempt to change their behavior in a way that won’t change anything, and cause conflict, or we can choose to use a method that is very powerful and blessed by God, it is called “making an appeal”. It was used by Daniel when he was a slave as a Hebrew youth to the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. Jewish people had a very strict dietary code given to them in the Law of Moses, and the Babylonians diet was anything but kosher. Daniel was faced with a dilemma because he was being asked to eat food that was against the Law of Moses which he had lived by all his life. He could have simply said, “I refuse to eat your stinking food”. The result would have been that he was killed and we wouldn’t have a book in the Bible called Daniel. Instead he made an appeal to the one who was in charge of feeding him.

Daniel 1:12-13. Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

The result was that Daniel was healthier than the others who were eating the Kings’s choice food, and so he was allowed to continue with his own choice of foods. And more than that, he ended up in a short amount of time being the second most powerful man in the Kingdome. The reason was that God blessed Daniel and all that he did. Others have used this method of resolving conflict and influencing people in the Bible and it always resulted in God’s blessing and successful relationships.

Daniel 1:9. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,

A couple of key elements in a well given appeal. First of all, it was gracious and polite. Notice that the first word in Daniel’s appeal is “please”. Second, he didn’t make a demand, he made a suggestion and left the final decision to the commander. Daniel didn’t get angry, threaten, attack the commander’s motive or character, he simply made an appeal. There are certain things that seem to attract the blessing of God, and this seems to be one of them.