Daniel 6:19-24

Daniel 6:19-24 

English Standard Version (ESV)

  What do you believe that God might be able to do?

  Here, the king is overjoyed that the man he threw into a den of lions and left him there all night wasn't eaten by these lions.  My first though is that perhaps he needs better lions...  My second question is how often does he utilize this den of lions?  Does he keep them around just in case?  Who does this?  Anyway...  he goes to the lions' den with hope, which is an interesting contrast with the women who go to the tomb on that first Easter morning.

  Think about it -- they have gathered spices and are going to anoint the body.  Despite Jesus' proclamations that he would die and rise again, no one believed that his visit to the tomb was just a sojourn -- they'd watched him die, and that was the end.  They didn't show up at the tomb and shout questions into it to see if Jesus would answer.

  But the king in Daniel's story showed up at the den expecting for Daniel to be alive!  He didn't tiptoe around the tomb, wondering if there was some small chance that he might have survived.  There was anguish, but he shouts a question into the den with the expectation that there might be an answer.  The king had likely seen countless people enter this den, but none had survived yet, but there was something clearly possible through Daniel's God...

  God can do amazing things.  Even though they may not make sense to us, God is at work.  God has not and will not abandon us.  Sometimes, we're at the point in the story where we are getting thrown into the den of lions, and we can't see the end and we wonder where God is at.  Just because we don't have the whole story in front of us, this doesn't mean that God doesn't still do miracles, that God isn't still at work.  God loves you and cares for you and is at work in your life, transforming you, sanctifying you, loving you, providing for you.

  What do you believe that God might be able to do?

Books of the Bible in Five Minutes: Ruth

The book of Ruth, only 4 chapter long, is a quick read.  Occurring during the time of the Judges, it's a story of faithfulness and devotion that can be helpful to us today.

Daniel 6:16-18

Daniel 6:16-18 

English Standard Version (ESV)

  I'll say upfront that I love the Bible.  I love the way it tells the story, weaving it through countless other smaller stories, each of which points to the one grand story.  The Bible teaches us about ourselves, about God and God's Kingdom.  It reveals things to us about humanity that we know to be true in the depths of our souls.  It reminds us about things that we all long for in the depths of our souls, longings that are evidence that we are created to inhabit a world beyond this one.

  In this story, the king is thought to be the most powerful person in it.  Who is more powerful than the king?  And yet does this power  bring him peace?  Does it bring ease?  No -- all of his money and all of his power cannot bring an easy night's sleep, while a man he has thrown into a den of lions will rest easy because the power of God is with him.  

  We see it written across the headlines of newspapers time and time again -- money, fame, and power do not bring the ease we would think it does.  Worldly riches are not often associated with peace.   There are greater riches, beyond what money can buy, that can secure true peace.  Only God can grant this peace, but if we spend our lives striving for the worldly kind, we can easily miss the riches and peace God wants to offer us.  

  So let be careful how we dream.  Money and fame can be very useful tools in the hands of those who are wise enough to see them for what they are and surround themselves with people who will hold them accountable.  Let us ensure we are setting our hopes on the riches that God  alone can give, recognizing all other kinds as merely tools to be used to spread the Good News of God's true wealth.

Daniel 6:10-15

Daniel 6:10-15 

English Standard Version (ESV) 

  I never thought that vaccines would be controversial, but here we are.  Think about a vaccine -- it's a momentary pain that is paid to receive a much greater benefit -- the pain you accept is far, far greater than the pain you are avoiding.  With an effective vaccine, you receive far more than you give -- this is why we're all so eager for a COVID-19 vaccine.  Millions would line up for it, despite the temporary pain of the needed, because they know that the immunity from COVID-19 is well worth the cost of temporary pain.

  

  When you believe in God, truly believe in God, you are placing your allegiance in the most powerful being in the universe.  To believe in God is always to receive far more than you give, for if the most we can give is our lives while we receive eternity.  Daniel knows the rules and understands the punishment, but he is wholly committed to God, and he understands that what he is doing may cost him his life, but what does he care if he has already received more than that?  

  

  I won't presume that this was easy for Daniel.  We read that his prayers are thanksgivings, just as he had done previously.  If so, his faith is certainly stronger than mine -- I'd be praying for God to perhaps transport me back to a friendlier kingdom!  But Daniel's confidence in God was strong enough to know that God would sustain him, even through death.  There was nothing the King could do that could threaten his relationship with God.

  I don't know what threatens you today.  The pandemic certainly looms outside all of our doors.  There are economic and societal and political concerns.  Each of us worries a little differently.  What I do know is that we can have confidence in God to sustain us through each of these challenges, for even death is not an end for us, but rather a new beginning, a transformation, in which God is still on the throne and we still belong to God.