Happy Sabbath! I hope you can experience God's rest today.
Here's your devotional text for Saturday, December 16.

 

 

Read Daniel 6:11-15. Have you ever been betrayed by someone? It’s not a nice feeling. It really hurts. It can make you angry and bitter. In Daniel 6:13, King Darius realized he had been fooled.

 

After these overly nice politicians had convinced the king to make a new law, they just camped in front of Daniel’s house to see when this Hebrew man would break the new law. For an entire day, they watched him. They saw him go to his chamber three times. They heard his prayers three times. The following day, they came with their complaint to the king. “Your most honored and faithful prime minister openly broke your new law!”

 

The Median politicians had not proposed this law because they liked their king. They proposed it because they wanted to get rid of Daniel. That’s what Darius realized in verse 14. In a very real way, people today also communicate that they want “the best” for you, but in the end, you realize they just had selfish motives. They are not concerned about helping or loving you; they have their own agenda.

 

Although King Darius had been deceived, he wasn’t without fault. He had made a hasty and impulsive decision, just thinking about his own glory and reputation as a king. Now, someone else had to die because he did not resist the flattery and praise. This also happens very often today. People around you might get pushed to do something that hurts you. Just like King Darius, they might realize much later that they got deceived and that they committed a sin. But you have to deal with the consequences. Daniel now had to go into a dark cave full of wild lions who were super hungry (Dan 6:24).

 

Study Daniel 6:16a. Why didn’t God deliver Daniel from being cast into the lion’s den? Don’t just think about Daniel here, but also about all the other people in this story. See also Psalm 76:10.

 

Study Daniel 6:16b. Why did King Darius say these words? Where did he get this faith from?

 

Study Daniel 6:18. Why did he spend the night like this? How was he feeling? Why no music?

 

Daniel’s deliverance teaches us two powerful lessons. Our thoughts, words, actions, and habits should be the same in seasons of trial and gloom as well as in seasons of hope and perfect peace. Daniel in the lions’ den was the same Daniel who stood before King Darius and prayed in his chamber day by day. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, our attitude doesn’t change — no matter if we are in the hour of our greatest trial or in the hour of prosperity, with God’s favor and the support of our friends. Real faith clings to the unseen and dwells on eternal realities.

 

But there is another lesson here. Daniel was not responsible for this trial. He said, just like Job and Joseph, “I will love God and stay faithful to Him, even if He does not deliver me from this.” It is a “But If Not” attitude. He was suffering because he wanted to do the right thing. And Jesus had compassion for Him. Christ suffers with us when we go through trials. If someone hurts you, he is hurting Jesus. If someone messes with you, he is messing with the almighty God of the universe.

 

The greatest evil isn’t the trial itself. It is losing your integrity during that trial. The “worst case scenario” isn’t your physical injury, extreme anxiety, or sickness. It is losing your Christian character under these circumstances. And here comes the best news ever: Jesus can save us from both evils. If He doesn’t choose to prevent the trial itself, He will surely give us the power to maintain our integrity under all circumstances and triumph by God’s grace.