Daniel's Trust

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was lifted from the den, no would was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. -Daniel 6:23

I can’t imagine a situation more urgent than being in a den of hungry lions. Just knowing there are lions close is enough to strike fear into most people. Now I really wish there was more detail to this story. Was the trust Daniel had trust that God would protect him from the king, so he continued praying? Was it trust even while he was being thrown into the Lion’s den? Was he afraid then?

For me these are particularly important things to think about because, while I am quite good at trusting in God for the long-term planning aspects of ministry and making decisions that are full of faith, honestly, I can be rubbish at living them out daily. The Vineyard motto of “do it afraid” applies quite well to me. Was Daniel absolutely stalwart through the entire experience? As he was standing on the brink of the pit, was he absolutely full of faith, or did he hesitate like I do, doing the right thing but not necessarily knowing if God will rescue you?

There are deep parallels to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego… they said “Even if God doesn’t save us, we will never bow to you.” Their faith drove them to do what was right, regardless of what would happen to them. They didn’t have faith God would save them from the fire but had faith nonetheless. I can definitely identify with this kind of faith. Was that Daniel’s attitude as well?

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. -John 14:1

Such a weird verse… Jesus is standing in front of his disciples saying this and explaining that they already believe in God, so he’s clearly not talking about the belief we normally think of. Rather, I think he’s talking about believing that Jesus will do what he says he will do and that his words are trustworthy. Yes, I believe in God. No, that doesn’t mean that I believe his words to me are true about my circumstance or about me.

God, help me to believe in you. Help me to believe your words about me, my situation, and the people around me.