Faithfulness

My long-awaited judgment and sentencing day had come. I sat on a bench outside of the judge’s courtroom, taking in my surroundings. Staring up at the floors looming above me in the courthouse, I thought of Daniel from the Bible, specifically when he was thrown into the lion’s den.

During Daniel’s time, King Darius signed a law that anyone who prayed to someone other than King Darius, be they divine or human, would be thrown into a den of lions. Upon hearing the law, Daniel went home and prayed to God. His coworkers reported Daniel to King Darius, and the king then ordered Daniel’s arrest and punishment. But when Daniel was thrown into the den, God sent his angels to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt him.

Another fascinating story of faithfulness in the book of Daniel tells of three Hebrew men: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they refused to bow to the image of King Nebuchadnezzar, the men were thrown into a fiery furnace. But because of their devotion to God, God intervened and allowed them to emerge from the furnace unharmed (Daniel 3).

Trust me when I tell you that I felt like I was getting ready to be thrown into both a lion’s den and a fiery furnace. But I remembered Daniel 2:22, today’s verse. God would rescue and protect me regardless of what happened. I honestly took the news of my sentencing in stride because of my faith—because I chose to trust him, accept my punishment, and be obedient.

Once we surrender to God’s authority and start a new life in Christ, there is no turning back. This new life may place us in tricky, challenging, and even painful situations, uprooting us from our family, pushing away our friends, and causing us to lose opportunities. But God does us an enormous favor when we choose his path for our life.

We might not know where God’s path will lead us or what twists and turns await us on our journey, but when God wants us to break from our past, he puts people, places, and things into our lives to make the hard times more bearable, more enjoyable.

Only God knows what we must experience, both good and bad, to change our heart. If we put our faith in him through all of it, we come to see that he truly does work all things for good.