"For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth." Daniel 6:26-27
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We all know the story of Daniel and the lions. Daniel grew up in Babylon, in the King's house and has faithfully served as an advisor to both King Darius and his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar. Jealous of his stature, other advisors fool Darius into outlawing prayer to anyone but the King, knowing Daniel, an Israelite, is a worshiper of the one true God. It's a test of faith for Daniel and an opportunity to show his faith as well. Daniel's people had been conquered and taken to captivity during the 6th Century B.C.
The first thing I admire is the fact that Daniel chose to obey God even though He knew what the consequences of his actions. Daniel's prayer relationship with God was important enough to risk losing his life over. Second, Daniel put himself in danger for God sake, and he didn't ask God to rescue him, he knew that God would keep those lions in control.
There have to be a time in your life when you have to get past the point of "trying" to trust God. You have to trust naturally. It has to come without a struggle. That's why we called the Christian walk a journey. As you're walking you have to make progress, you have to advance until you reach your destination. How sad would it be to go through the journey of life and to never know God intimately when it all says and done? It's only when you know Him intimately that you will learn to trust Him.
Like Daniel, we face all kind of difficulties in our daily lives. Lions come in all shapes and sizes and like him we need to learn to make the difficult choices and take a stand for what is right and stand for righteousness. Daniel got a miraculous ending. He trusted God and as a result he benefited from God's faithfulness. Who knows what you will experience when you learn to let go of yourself and learn to trust God? It is through our adversity that our strength gets perfected.
God cannot be destroyed. He rescues His people. He is the same today, yesterday and forever (Malachi 3:6). God's character never changes. He never is "less than" who He used to be. He never improves because there is no improvement possible. Praise God! He is already perfect. God is always wise, always sovereign, always a loving father, always good, always just, always holy, always merciful, always gracious and indeed the Almighty. Whatever God is, He always is. There are no "sometimes" attributes of God. All of his attributes are "always" attributes. He always is what He is and he desires to accomplish great things through you. He wants to take you to the next level. He wants to give you victory in all areas of your life. The question as you are approaching the weekend is will you let Him accomplish that?
Praise the Lord!
