"If I follow Jesus, everything will go wonderfully"...right?
Not always.
Sometimes being faithful still leaves us open to trials, tribulations, and difficulties.
And somehow, that all fits within God's sovereign plan.
That means that, no matter what our circumstances, we are still called to "Trust and Obey"...and lean on Him to get us through!
Daniel had been faithful from the time he was a young man.
Through the violent overthrow of his homeland, the forced deportation that he and other young Israelites went through, being unfairly mistreated and 'set up' by others, and having to serve under several different tyrannical rulers, Daniel remained faithful.
Not only had he been faithful to God, but he had also been faithful in his service to the various kings. He had always shown integrity and leadership--because these things came not in response to 'nice kings' or 'good treatment', but rather from his relationship to the God of Israel!
As a result, even when things got tough, he remained faitful. Even when he was 'set up' by his fellow officers, he remained faithful to pray to his God several times a day...as had been his custom! He did not change!
As a result, he got caught breaking a law which the king, in his pride, had signed. This law said that anyone who was caught praying to anyone except the king would be thrown into the Lions' den.
Daniel's response? Continue praying and take the risk of suffering the consequences!
When Daniel was 'caught', he didn't try to get out of it. Instead, he committed himself to
God's prayer and protection and continued being faithful.
King Darius, for his part, tried to figure a way to get Daniel out of this predicament, but couldn't. He knew they'd both been set up, and he said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you from the Lions" (Daniel 6:16)
Darius knew this was a bad situation, and he didn't sleep at all that night. He paced until early in the morning, then went to the Lions' Den, and called out: “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God." (Daniel 6:19-23)
Daniel had continually been faithful to the Lord, and to serve those kings he was under. God had exalted him to a high office, but HAD NOT KEPT HIM FROM ALL TRIALS. Did Daniel struggle in that night? Was he afraid? Did he think his life was over?
We're not told...(although, given what he'd learned and experienced, he had reason to be confident).
Bottom Line:
Daniel was delivered from the lions! God faithfully and miraculously protected him, even though he had been allowed to go through the trial. He had not wavered. God allowed his faith to be tested, and honored his faith at the same time.
What happened next?
"Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den." (Daniel 6:24)
The King then praised Daniel's God, and encouraged others to do the same.
Lesson for us:
Next time you're going through a trial, check yourself: Have you been faithful? Are you committed to continually serving and honoring the Lord, no matter your circumstances?
If so, and the trial comes anyway, commit yourself to Him, call on His name, call out to Him in prayer, and HAVE FAITH that He will deliver you and get you through.
In doing so, He will use you to bring eternal glory to Himself...and it just may be that others (like King Darius) will give Him praise because of it!
Showing posts with label trials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trials. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Friday, April 15, 2011
Sing 'till the earth shakes!
I like to sing in church.
There. I said it. I like singing.
I did NOT claim to sing very well, though.
Yet, not even I, on my worst day, could make the earth quake with my singing.
Paul and Silas did, though!
Paul and Silas had just delivered a demon-possessed girl (who happened to be making her 'masters' a lot of money), but the masters turned on them and brought them to the city officials...
Acts 16: 20-24.
"And when they had brought them before the magistrates, they declared, These fellows are Jews and they are throwing our city into great confusion.
They encourage the practice of customs which it is unlawful for us Romans to accept or observe!
The crowd [also] joined in the attack upon them, and the rulers tore the clothes off of them and commanded that they be beaten with rods.
And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
He, having received [so strict a] charge, put them into the inner prison (the dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks."
No trail, no lawyer, no nothing...just stripped, beaten, and thrown into the 'inner prison'--essentially, the dungeon.
A bad day, to be sure! So where's the singing?
Look at the very next verse:
"But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them..." (Acts 16:25)
After all this--public humiliation, severe beating, thrown into a dungeon, hands and feet bound...at midnight they were SINGING!
How can that be?
How can they rise above their circumstances like that?
Sometimes if we get a hangnail, we can't do anything but complain! Yet, here they were, singing. "And the other prisoners were 'listening to them'.
I'll bet!
Probably at first, they tried to shut them up, but as Paul and Silas kept singing, gaining strength and volume, the prisoners had to be stricken with the circumstances of Paul and Silas, and wondered the same thing we would "How can they be singing?"
What happened next?
"Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were unfastened." (Acts 16:26)
Their singing made the earth quake!
True, it probably had everything to do with the God they were singing to, and not the tonal quality of their singing, but...
God went on to deliver them, to bring the jailer and his family to faith in Jesus, at which time they were baptized and became part of the new church in Philippi....and only the Lord knows how the other prisoners responded in the long run (we do know that, even though their chains fell off and they had the opportunity to escape, Paul and Silas had made such an impression that NONE had fled!).
But the point is this: Paul and Silas had such a close connection with the Lord, that--even amidst these terrible, unjust, unfair circumstances, they were singing!
There is strength in singing to the Lord in spite of your circumstances.
Keep singing! Keep walking in the victory and positivity that the Lord gives. Who knows? Maybe you will make the earth quake!
There. I said it. I like singing.
I did NOT claim to sing very well, though.
Yet, not even I, on my worst day, could make the earth quake with my singing.
Paul and Silas did, though!
Paul and Silas had just delivered a demon-possessed girl (who happened to be making her 'masters' a lot of money), but the masters turned on them and brought them to the city officials...
Acts 16: 20-24.
"And when they had brought them before the magistrates, they declared, These fellows are Jews and they are throwing our city into great confusion.
They encourage the practice of customs which it is unlawful for us Romans to accept or observe!
The crowd [also] joined in the attack upon them, and the rulers tore the clothes off of them and commanded that they be beaten with rods.
And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
He, having received [so strict a] charge, put them into the inner prison (the dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks."
No trail, no lawyer, no nothing...just stripped, beaten, and thrown into the 'inner prison'--essentially, the dungeon.
A bad day, to be sure! So where's the singing?
Look at the very next verse:
"But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them..." (Acts 16:25)
After all this--public humiliation, severe beating, thrown into a dungeon, hands and feet bound...at midnight they were SINGING!
How can that be?
How can they rise above their circumstances like that?
Sometimes if we get a hangnail, we can't do anything but complain! Yet, here they were, singing. "And the other prisoners were 'listening to them'.
I'll bet!
Probably at first, they tried to shut them up, but as Paul and Silas kept singing, gaining strength and volume, the prisoners had to be stricken with the circumstances of Paul and Silas, and wondered the same thing we would "How can they be singing?"
What happened next?
"Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were unfastened." (Acts 16:26)
Their singing made the earth quake!
True, it probably had everything to do with the God they were singing to, and not the tonal quality of their singing, but...
God went on to deliver them, to bring the jailer and his family to faith in Jesus, at which time they were baptized and became part of the new church in Philippi....and only the Lord knows how the other prisoners responded in the long run (we do know that, even though their chains fell off and they had the opportunity to escape, Paul and Silas had made such an impression that NONE had fled!).
But the point is this: Paul and Silas had such a close connection with the Lord, that--even amidst these terrible, unjust, unfair circumstances, they were singing!
There is strength in singing to the Lord in spite of your circumstances.
Keep singing! Keep walking in the victory and positivity that the Lord gives. Who knows? Maybe you will make the earth quake!
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