Out in the Open
Well, Happy New Year and Happy Sunday!!
It's my next to last Sunday in Brooklyn before I go back to (finally!!) move into my new apartment, and I cannot be more nervous or excited! I truly believe that 2013 is going to be full of pleasant experiences and surprises. 2012 was challenging, but the Lord took care of me in the midst of everything, and even made a way for me to have new and rewarding experiences. There's no god like my God!!!
Anyway, I thought I'd kick off this year with the book of Daniel. We all know about the story of Daniel in the lion's den, but many people are a little hazy on the details leading up to that. Here's how it all started:
Daniel 6:1-3 "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first; that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."
So, to break it down, there was a new ruler in the kingdom, named Darius. He, as most government leaders when they acquire their position, decided to assign his own delegates to watch over the kingdom. So he established a hierarchy of princes and presidents, and Daniel was a top dog. Why? Because "an excellent spirit was in him." Obviously, Daniel had the spirit of God in him. How does one know that? Well from the outside looking in, it probably appeared that Daniel had a good attitude. As we could see in previous chapters, Daniel was agreeable yet fearless. He obeyed the laws of man EXCEPT when those laws conflicted with God's laws and commandments. So he was a man of principle and integrity. Not to mention his faith and relationships with God proved to be more powerful than any decree given by any king before him. Yet, Daniel never became arrogant or puffed up. He stayed in his place, and took care of his responsibilities. OF COURSE Darius wanted him to oversee the kingdom. He knew it would be in good hands.
So, if Darius loved Daniel so much, how did he get to the point where he was mad enough to throw him in a den of hungry lions? It's like one of those drama series that shows the event climax first and then have to backtrack to see the events leading up to it. So, here we go:
Daniel 6:4 "Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him."
Wait, wait, wait. So you mean to tell me that these other men who had also received esteemed positions, STILL had a problem with Daniel and his elevation? But why? Did they want Daniel's job for themselves? Did they want to take their positions and rule as they pleased? Or did they just not want to have to answer to a Jew? Oh, what, y'all thought racism was a new thing? Regardless of the "why," we can all pretty much sniff the same odor coming from them: HATERATION! We don't have one conclusive answer, but we can see that they held some malice in their hearts and poor Daniel was the target.
Daniel 6:5-9 "Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree."
So, the haters understood that they would not be able to find any fault with Daniel, so, they did what haters do: They made something up. They found a way to attack him indirectly, by kissing up to the King. By telling him that he was the only being worthy of praise from the people. So, they said, tell the people "don't pray at all, or only pray to King Darius". The thing that got me was that they put a time stamp on it. Thirty days. Some people might think, "hey, it's okay to go 30 days without praying if it means I get to keep my life." But they knew, not Daniel. They knew Daniel loved his God too much to go ONE day without praying, much less thirty. So, according to their scheme, the same faithfulness that got Daniel his position, would be the very thing to lead to his death. They really forgot that this was the same God who delivered Daniel's friends from a fiery furnace, drove the former king Nebuchadnezzar into the woods, and gave Daniel the interpretations to the king's dreams. It's just like the devil. No matter how many times God wins, he still thinks he can find a way to outsmart Him. So what happened next?
Daniel 6:10-11 "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God."
Boom! Not only did Daniel refuse to go one day without praying, he refused to do it in secret! Now, we may have somebody who says to themselves, "I need to pray, but I'll do it in secret, when nobody can tell I'm doing it. That makes sense." But no, not Daniel. He wanted everyone to know that for God he lived, and for God he would die. Anyway, we see where the relationship between Darius and Daniel come to a head. Darius let vanity get in the way of his common sense, and once he signed the decree, he couldn't take it back (v.15). We all know how the story ends. Daniel gets thrown into the lion's den, but the Lord sends angels to keep the mouths of the lions shut and the next morning, when King Darius goes to see about Daniel, he sees that he is alive and well. Then all the people who plotted against Daniel get thrown into the den with their families and they are torn apart before they even hit the ground.
So what does this mean for believers today? First, we have to take note of the fact that, even though Daniel did everything right, he still had enemies. We went through the possible reasons before, but the bottom line is that they did not like him and did not want him to be successful. We will have to deal with people in our offices who try to turn our coworkers against us, people in school who will attempt to undermine our endeavors, and even people in church who will try to undercut our ministry. Daniel shows us that we do not have to succumb to them. He didn't even address them. He just kept doing what he knew was right, and continued on.
The next thing we have to realize is that NO ONE has the right or the power to interfere with our relationship with God. In my church, our Statement of Faith has a clause that declares "if there is a conflict between God's law and man's law, we must obey God rather than man." That means that even the President of the United States does not have the ability to override God's command that we pray, and pray without ceasing. There is no amount of earthly glory, power, or riches that can outshine that.
Finally, and always, Daniel's story shows us that God will always provide, and He is always present. It's easy to get wrapped up in what's going on with us in the present and forget that God is there. As I read this, I saw many opportunities where God could have put a stop to the foolishness. He could have shut the mouths of the officials before they even went to Darius. He could have spoken to Darius and made it so that he couldn't sign the decree. He could have made the passersby blind to Daniel when he prayed. He could have prevented Daniel from entering the lion's den. But all of that had to happen because God used it to show everyone once again that He was sovereign and that He was in control. Not only did he increase Daniel's faith, but proved Himself to Darius, as well as anyone else who witnessed what happened. God allows us to go through suffering and uncertainty, not always to teach us a lesson, but to remind us of what we already knew. Sometimes we forget that God sees and hears all, and we try to do things ourselves. We scheme and plan, just like the officials who plotted against Daniel, while God is waiting for us to just completely surrender to Him. What Daniel realized was that without God, there was no life, and if he sacrificed his relationship with God, he might as well have been dead. We need to get to that point where we understand that life without Christ is no life at all. Sometimes we need reminders. But it's a lesson we all have to learn.
It's my next to last Sunday in Brooklyn before I go back to (finally!!) move into my new apartment, and I cannot be more nervous or excited! I truly believe that 2013 is going to be full of pleasant experiences and surprises. 2012 was challenging, but the Lord took care of me in the midst of everything, and even made a way for me to have new and rewarding experiences. There's no god like my God!!!
Anyway, I thought I'd kick off this year with the book of Daniel. We all know about the story of Daniel in the lion's den, but many people are a little hazy on the details leading up to that. Here's how it all started:
Daniel 6:1-3 "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first; that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."
So, to break it down, there was a new ruler in the kingdom, named Darius. He, as most government leaders when they acquire their position, decided to assign his own delegates to watch over the kingdom. So he established a hierarchy of princes and presidents, and Daniel was a top dog. Why? Because "an excellent spirit was in him." Obviously, Daniel had the spirit of God in him. How does one know that? Well from the outside looking in, it probably appeared that Daniel had a good attitude. As we could see in previous chapters, Daniel was agreeable yet fearless. He obeyed the laws of man EXCEPT when those laws conflicted with God's laws and commandments. So he was a man of principle and integrity. Not to mention his faith and relationships with God proved to be more powerful than any decree given by any king before him. Yet, Daniel never became arrogant or puffed up. He stayed in his place, and took care of his responsibilities. OF COURSE Darius wanted him to oversee the kingdom. He knew it would be in good hands.
So, if Darius loved Daniel so much, how did he get to the point where he was mad enough to throw him in a den of hungry lions? It's like one of those drama series that shows the event climax first and then have to backtrack to see the events leading up to it. So, here we go:
Daniel 6:4 "Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him."
Wait, wait, wait. So you mean to tell me that these other men who had also received esteemed positions, STILL had a problem with Daniel and his elevation? But why? Did they want Daniel's job for themselves? Did they want to take their positions and rule as they pleased? Or did they just not want to have to answer to a Jew? Oh, what, y'all thought racism was a new thing? Regardless of the "why," we can all pretty much sniff the same odor coming from them: HATERATION! We don't have one conclusive answer, but we can see that they held some malice in their hearts and poor Daniel was the target.
Daniel 6:5-9 "Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree."
So, the haters understood that they would not be able to find any fault with Daniel, so, they did what haters do: They made something up. They found a way to attack him indirectly, by kissing up to the King. By telling him that he was the only being worthy of praise from the people. So, they said, tell the people "don't pray at all, or only pray to King Darius". The thing that got me was that they put a time stamp on it. Thirty days. Some people might think, "hey, it's okay to go 30 days without praying if it means I get to keep my life." But they knew, not Daniel. They knew Daniel loved his God too much to go ONE day without praying, much less thirty. So, according to their scheme, the same faithfulness that got Daniel his position, would be the very thing to lead to his death. They really forgot that this was the same God who delivered Daniel's friends from a fiery furnace, drove the former king Nebuchadnezzar into the woods, and gave Daniel the interpretations to the king's dreams. It's just like the devil. No matter how many times God wins, he still thinks he can find a way to outsmart Him. So what happened next?
Daniel 6:10-11 "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God."
Boom! Not only did Daniel refuse to go one day without praying, he refused to do it in secret! Now, we may have somebody who says to themselves, "I need to pray, but I'll do it in secret, when nobody can tell I'm doing it. That makes sense." But no, not Daniel. He wanted everyone to know that for God he lived, and for God he would die. Anyway, we see where the relationship between Darius and Daniel come to a head. Darius let vanity get in the way of his common sense, and once he signed the decree, he couldn't take it back (v.15). We all know how the story ends. Daniel gets thrown into the lion's den, but the Lord sends angels to keep the mouths of the lions shut and the next morning, when King Darius goes to see about Daniel, he sees that he is alive and well. Then all the people who plotted against Daniel get thrown into the den with their families and they are torn apart before they even hit the ground.
So what does this mean for believers today? First, we have to take note of the fact that, even though Daniel did everything right, he still had enemies. We went through the possible reasons before, but the bottom line is that they did not like him and did not want him to be successful. We will have to deal with people in our offices who try to turn our coworkers against us, people in school who will attempt to undermine our endeavors, and even people in church who will try to undercut our ministry. Daniel shows us that we do not have to succumb to them. He didn't even address them. He just kept doing what he knew was right, and continued on.
The next thing we have to realize is that NO ONE has the right or the power to interfere with our relationship with God. In my church, our Statement of Faith has a clause that declares "if there is a conflict between God's law and man's law, we must obey God rather than man." That means that even the President of the United States does not have the ability to override God's command that we pray, and pray without ceasing. There is no amount of earthly glory, power, or riches that can outshine that.
Finally, and always, Daniel's story shows us that God will always provide, and He is always present. It's easy to get wrapped up in what's going on with us in the present and forget that God is there. As I read this, I saw many opportunities where God could have put a stop to the foolishness. He could have shut the mouths of the officials before they even went to Darius. He could have spoken to Darius and made it so that he couldn't sign the decree. He could have made the passersby blind to Daniel when he prayed. He could have prevented Daniel from entering the lion's den. But all of that had to happen because God used it to show everyone once again that He was sovereign and that He was in control. Not only did he increase Daniel's faith, but proved Himself to Darius, as well as anyone else who witnessed what happened. God allows us to go through suffering and uncertainty, not always to teach us a lesson, but to remind us of what we already knew. Sometimes we forget that God sees and hears all, and we try to do things ourselves. We scheme and plan, just like the officials who plotted against Daniel, while God is waiting for us to just completely surrender to Him. What Daniel realized was that without God, there was no life, and if he sacrificed his relationship with God, he might as well have been dead. We need to get to that point where we understand that life without Christ is no life at all. Sometimes we need reminders. But it's a lesson we all have to learn.
Comments
Post a Comment