Do you know the story of Daniel in the lion’s den?

Maybe you remembering hearing the story told with a flannel board in Sunday School, way back when?

Daniel was a great man of faith and prayer. He was given a top job in the kingdom of Darius because he was a faithful hard worker. This made the administrators under him jealous, so they devised a plan to get rid of him. But Daniel was a pretty honourable guy, so finding fault was pretty difficult. The only way they could trip him up was to make a law that was against his religious beliefs. So, the administrators tricked the king and got him to pass a law that said no one could pray to anyone other than the king for thirty days.

Daniel was a man of prayer. He had a habit of praying to God three times a day. Daniel knew of the new law, but he continued to pray each day as he always had. King Darius liked Daniel, but when the administrators told him that Daniel had broken the law, the king had no choice but to punish Daniel. The king realized too late that the administrators had tricked him.

The king ordered that Daniel be thrown into a den of lions. The king hoped that Daniel’s God would spare him, saying, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” (Daniel 6:16)

A large stone was placed over the den of lions and was sealed. The king was so worried about Daniel that he couldn’t sleep that night. The first thing the next morning, the king went to see if Daniel had been killed. He cried out to see if Daniel was alive and Daniel answered him, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.” (Daniel 6: 22)

The king was overjoyed and had Daniel pulled out of the lions den. He then brought the men who had accused Daniel and threw them in the den of lions. The lions tore them to pieces before they could even hit the ground.

Great story eh?

Have you ever found yourself in a "lion's den"? Maybe, like Daniel, you feel like you have some enemies out there plotting your destruction. Or an adversary who "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). Have you ever gotten to the point where you’ve wondered how you were going to hold on to your faith—much less your sanity—in the midst of all the pain and confusion?

What did Daniel do? Daniel refused to be distracted from the purpose in his heart. He maintained his priorities and kept his cool in the face of opposition.

Here’s what this story teaches me:

Keep my eyes locked on our faithful God, no matter what!
Keep on praying!.
Keep on living a godly life!
Keep on claiming the promises of God's Word!
Keep on trusting the Lord to come through for you!

Stand Strong because our God is, has been and will be… FAITHFUL!

Join us on Sunday as we continue our series on Daniel entitled Take Your Stand!