Main Idea: Nothing is too hard for the ever-faithful God.
A Look at the Text:
Babylon was no more. Persia was now the superpower on the scene, led by Darius the Mede. Historically, it’s very likely that this is another name for Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia.[1]
Under the reign of Darius, Daniel prospered (Dan. 6:2-3). So much so that his contemporaries became jealous and sought to get Daniel in trouble (Dan. 6:4). Yet Daniel was so faithful that they could find no fault with him—their only hope was to fault him for his faithfulness to God’s law (Dan. 6:4-5).
So they concocted a plan to trick the king into getting rid of Daniel. An ordinance was established that all prayers and petitions for the next thirty days, whether to gods or men, would have to go through the king (Dan. 6:7-9).
After hearing the news of the new law, Daniel went to his house and prayed to God while facing Jerusalem three times a day—just as he had done previously (Dan. 6:10).
As a result, Daniel was suddenly guilty of breaking the law. When his opponents caught him praying, he was brought before the king (Dan. 6:11-15).
Darius, with regret, had Daniel thrown into the lion’s den with the prayer, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you” (Dan. 6:16). The king recognized that Daniel was faithful to his God. Now, he was pleading for his God to be faithful to him.
And he was.
The God of Daniel sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths and kept Daniel alive (Dan. 6:22). In light of this, not only was Daniel delivered, but the new king extolled the God of Daniel. He praised Him as the living God whose Kingdom will endure forever and who can deliver, rescue, and work signs in heaven and on earth (Dan. 6:26-27).
Bringing it Home:
It is very easy for people to worry. We don’t know the future. We don’t know the outcomes of trials we face. We really don’t know much of anything, and there is very little we can control.
Yet there is one thing we can control—ourselves. While we can’t control the outcome, we can control our faithfulness and our efforts.
Daniel is one of the best biblical examples of faithfulness to God. He was a man so faithful and so faultless that the only thing that got him in trouble was prayer! Then, when facing what was probably the greatest trial of his life, the ball was in God’s court to deliver him.
Daniel couldn’t do anything about it. He had to trust in the God whom he served, and when he was delivered, God was the One who got all the glory.
Let us rest assured today that there is no problem that is unsolvable for the living God. There is no challenge too hard or situation too dire.
When life is unfigureoutable, we can put our trust in Him. For our job is not to figure everything out, to have all the answers, or to solve every problem—our job is simply to be faithful and then to trust the God who can do whatever He pleases.
The results aren’t in your hands. They are in God’s.
Challenge:
Do I see myself as the answer to all of my problems, or do I strive to simply be faithful?
[1] John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 544.