Facing the Lions

One of the outstanding heroes of the faith as mentioned in the Scriptures is Daniel, a man who had a reputation for unwavering faith in God. It was because of his faith that Daniel faced the prospect of execution by being thrown into a den full of hungry lions. The various rulers of Babylon who worked under Daniel’s authority conspired against him in order to have him put to death. They convinced the king to issue a decree that made it illegal for people to pray to any god other than the king himself. And so, because of his disobedience to the king’s decree, Daniel was faced with execution by being thrown into the lions’ den. This leads us to the following observations:

1. Even though the lions cannot harm us, sometimes God requires that we spend a night or two in the lions’ den.

It is interesting that the king sealed the opening of the lions’ den “so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed” (Dan. 6:17, NIV). Sometimes we face circumstances that are meant to help us discover that God does not always take us out of difficult situations, but He gives us the grace and strength to go through them. Even though Daniel had to face a night of hearing hungry lions roar, His trust was in the Lord. Sometimes our troubles and problems are like those hungry lions that loom large in our thinking. They roar at us and threaten us, perhaps even pushing us into a corner where there seems to be no way out. But know this: No matter how big the lions may appear, God is still bigger!

2. No matter what we face in life, we can be confident that God is in absolute control of all things.

After spending the night in the lions’ den, Daniel’s confession was, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouth of the lions” (Dan. 6:22, NIV). Even though Daniel had to spend the night in the lions’ den, God showed His control over all things by coming in the form of an angel. God came like the “forth man” who visited Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. He came as the One whom the apostle Paul said is “to be in all things alone supreme” (Col. 1:18, NEB). This encourages us to know that when we are in the darkest of situations, our fellowship with God can be at its best, for the light of His glorious presence will help keep our focus off the dangers around us. Like David, we can say, “”Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (or “through the darkest valley”), I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps. 23:4, NIV, italics added).

3. One of the most important qualities that God is building into our lives is the ability to trust Him.

Perhaps one of the most important questions God asks of us as we face the various circumstances of life is, “Will you trust Me?” Can we trust God with our finances, with our health, with our children or teenagers, with our jobs, with our future, and with our very lives? The longer I live for the Lord, the more I discover that walking with God means moving from one level of trust to another. This means, of course, that my ability to trust God should be greater today than it ever has in the past, for we are all called to grow from faith to faith and from strength to strength. We are not meant to stay the same, but in all things we are called to grow up into the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The end result for Daniel was that throughout his life he was known as the man who survived the lions’ den “because he had trusted in his God” (Dan. 6:23, NIV).