“Painful Humbling”

 

BIBLE READING: Daniel 5-6


                Daniel knew what he was doing. He knew the law. Daniel knew that praying to his God would get him into trouble. He remembered the persecution his people had faced under Nebuchadnezzar and he knew the Persians could be just as ruthless. He would not get away with this. Calmly, Daniel walked up to the upper floor of his house, cast open his windows and faced the remnants of God’s temple in Jerusalem. Knowing the danger full well, Daniel got down on his knees to defy the king and pray.

You see, Daniel did not just know the danger he faced, he also knew the promises of his LORD.

As a boy, Daniel had heard the stories of God’s great protecting hand, from Noah to Moses to David. Daniel remembered when three of his friends had been thrown into a fiery furnace and emerged unharmed. Now an older man, Daniel could look back and see God’s guidance in his own life as had been brought to his high calling.  How could the same God who had sustained him to this point, fail him now?

                We know the story well. After Darius threw Daniel into the lions den, an angel protected Daniel throughout the night. Daniel walked away without a single scratch and the LORD was worshiped throughout Persia. Yet, have you ever thought, “what if God didn’t protect Daniel?” Would Daniel have been any worse off? If God had chosen that moment to bring his faithful believer to heaven and chosen another to proclaim his power to the Persians, Daniel’s eternal fate would have been the same. The greatest miracle with Daniel is not an angel who shut the mouths of lions, but the strengthening of Daniel’s faith to face certain death to proclaim the LORD’s name. May God grant that same faith to us as we face the ridicule, the persecution, and the temptations of this world.  

-Michael Schottey

 

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