My Sunday Skl

Daniel’s life’s falling apart, what’s gonna happen next?

¹⁶ So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

Oh, so it gets worse. Well then.

The next morning, Darius hurried to the den to see if, by some miracle, Daniel was still alive.

Check this out.

²⁰ And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

Darius really wanted to know whether the God Daniel served, and talked about every day, at the office, was actually real.

Is he working for you? Does he really have the power you say he has?

I don’t think this was in an antagonist way either, at least Darius was presented as such a villain.

Darius wasn’t teasing Daniel; in fact, he was rooting for him and his God. But for this to happen, Darius would need to know about Daniel’s God through Daniel’s life. And so, God joined Daniel in the lion’s den, and just like that, the lions became pillows for the night. The enemy counted on Daniel’s love for God to put him in danger but didn’t consider that it’d be that same love for God which would save him from it.

²² My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

That is one of the benefits of having such a level of integrity. He had done what was right both in the sight of God and in the sight of the king, and God vindicated him by protecting him from the lions.

Darius rejoiced and the picture was soon clear to him. His real problem was never this “disloyal Daniel”, but the scheming government officials who has accused Daniel.

²⁴ And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

One thing to note, Daniel didn’t have to do a thing out of the ordinary, by his standards. He simply continued serving throughout everything that came his way. Even when he was free and may have desired revenge, he knew that God would deal with them for him.

Proverbs 20:22 – Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

Another benefit of Daniel level of integrity is that through him God is glorified.

²⁶ I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
²⁷ He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

And yes, this decree was unchangeable too.

Wow, God really came through. It would’ve been such a waste if Daniel went out like that. This confirms his success.

Yes, but no.

Honestly, I would go as far as to say that even if Daniel had been eaten by the lions, his life was still full of success. This may not be the typical success measured my power and money (even though Daniel likely had all of this), but true success in God’s eyes. Daniel achieved that. You might even argue that him dying for God would even further confirm his integrity and make him even more successful.

Fortunately, God really came through.

“But what can I do now?” “Everyone knows about the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve compromised again and again. My girlfriend doesn’t trust me. My friends don’t respect me. My Dad can’t rely on me. It’s too late for me!”

If there’s anything we should know, it’s that it’s never too late. Moses definitely lost his integrity when he killed the Egyptian. But God returned it to him at the burning bush and called him to lead Israel. David lost his integrity with Bathsheba, but he confessed his sin and God restored him. David died with God saying, “David is a man after my own heart”.

Soon I’ll even tell you bout my man Peter and how he lost his integrity but was restored in Christ.

So how do we become more like Daniel. Because, at least in my opinion, that kind of integrity just exudes confidence not only in himself but also in God.

Here we go:

1. Set your standards in advance: Decide on the things you won’t compromise on before you find yourself in the middle of a problem. We can’t just decide to be men and women of integrity on the spot.
2. Develop a daily devotional life: Make spending time with God the rule, not the exception. As we saw in the case of Daniel, cultivating your walk with God will do more for you on this path of integrity than anything else.
3. Find some friends who will hold you accountable: Find the friends who will ask you the hard questions about what you’re doing and more importantly, why! Sometimes, you’re friends are gonna stick it on you, and that’s cool.
4. Focus on God and not your circumstances: Your circumstances will change, God remains constant. If you base your life on adapting to your circumstances, then you’ll end up just like everyone else, doing the same.
5. Don’t wait for your circumstance to get better before you do:  Going through bad times doesn’t mean you should make bad decisions. Your level of integrity shouldn’t be based on what is going on around you.