Many of us have heard the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. It is a story we were taught in Sunday School and at VBS. Children are usually taught Daniel and The Lion's in relation to not being afraid because God is with us. We know that story so well that we seldom come back to it as adults. Today, we are going to use this story in our discussion about trusting God.
Our story is found in Daniel: Chapter 6. King Darius splits the kingdom into 120 provinces. He appoints a high officer for every province. He also appoints Daniel and 2 other administrators to oversee the high officers and to protect the King's interest. The other 2 administrators and the high officers try to find wrongdoing on the part of Daniel. They find him to blameless. He is faithful, responsible and trustworthy. They see that the only way to accuse him of any wrongdoing would be on the grounds of religion. They approach King Darius and tell him they all agree that no one should pray to anyone but King Darius for a month. If anyone is found to be praying to anyone other the King, then they would have to be thrown into the Lion's Den. Daniel finds out about decree but still prayed at his house 3 times everyday. The other 2 administrators and high officers go to his house and find him praying, Much to the dismay of King Darius, Daniel was thrown into to the Lion's Den. The next morning, King Darius goes back to the Lion's Den to check on Daniel. He is shocked when Daniel responds to him and comes out of the den without so much as a scratch! King Darius then signs a decree that one could pray to anyone or anything expect the God of Daniel. The God that saved Daniel from the lions.
Daniel trusted God. He knew what would have happened if he was found praying but he kept praying to his God. It takes an amazing about faith to keep praying if you knew you could be dinner for the lions if you were caught! We all have Lion's Den type situations. We become afraid. We don't know what do and if we will come out unscathed. We are given choices everyday to rely or not rely on God to be enough. It is really hard for me to trust God with the faith of Daniel! I am getting ready to graduate from college in December and after that I have no idea of what is going happen! I don't know where I am going to live and work. It is very scary and overwhelming. You may be dealing with a similar situation or you may have a completely different situation in which is hard to trust God with a Daniel like faith. We are given a choice. We can choose to trust God whether we know the outcome like Daniel did or do not know the outcome. We can choose to live by our own understanding and try to do things our own way or we can trust a God who already knows that outcome and is there for us. Which choice do you make?
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