Strong Under Pressure: Wisdom From the Book of Danielনমুনা

Don’t Settle for Less

Yesterday, we saw Daniel interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about a falling statue. Today, we’ve got more statue-based action in Babylon.

Daniel chapter 3 opens with the king building a giant gold statue of himself. If that doesn’t seem prideful enough, he then commands everyone to bow down to it.

This is a problem for Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—their new Babylonian names—because this wasn’t just an over-the-top honoring of their leader.

In Babylon, the king was considered to be a fusion of human and divine. So to the three friends, this was a spiritual choice. Would they give their allegiance to the human king or to God? Of course, this wasn’t just a conflict of belief. It had physical implications, too.

As we’ve seen, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t have any problems with dishing out dramatic punishments for people who didn’t follow his whims, and this was no exception. In this instance, anyone who didn’t bow down to the statue would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Remember, these friends weren’t anti-Babylon. Despite their major differences, nothing in the story suggests that they were regularly hostile, antagonistic, or hypercritical of the king. Instead, they were all about honoring God.

Until now, their convictions might not have caused any major problems for them. But the giant statue represented their biggest test. Would they follow through with their beliefs no matter the cost? Or would they fold under pressure?

It’s easy to have private beliefs and convictions. It’s much harder to live them out in public. For example, it’s easy to believe that gossip and slander are wrong, but it’s much harder to stick to your convictions when the people around you start making fun of an annoying person.

The three friends had a strong belief and had to live it out in the most public setting possible—right in front of the king. But they remained true to their convictions. How did they do it?

Their response to the king reveals the answer: They declared their trust that God had the power to save them, but even if He didn’t save them, they’d rather die than dishonor God.

To them, faith in God was so much more than a set of beliefs. It was a life-giving source of daily power. So in their opinion, a life without God wasn’t worth living. They’d experienced God’s joy, peace, and grace, and they wouldn’t settle for anything or anyone else.

There are a lot of influences in our lives that try to tell us the right way to live, but when we’ve experienced God’s goodness, like Daniel’s friends, we’ll have the fuel to remain strong under pressure.

How do we experience God’s goodness so that we can say no to imposters claiming to lead us to a better way of life? A helpful first step is to reflect on your own story. How has God changed your life? How have you experienced His love, grace, and forgiveness?

Another way is to pursue daily practices that help you get to know God better. It could include spending time in prayer, regularly reflecting on how God has changed your life, and serving others.

Challenge: Reflect on God’s love and grace in your life. What was your life like before you knew Him? How have your life, relationships, and self-image changed?

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for staying close to me. I want to grow in relationship with You each day so I can experience more of Your goodness. Help me remember that life with You is better than any other way of life. Please give me strength as I face all kinds of temptations this week. In Jesus’ name, amen.