Daniel: Always Trust God, No Matter What!

The men went to King Darius and they said, “Oh, King, live forever…” (that’s the first thing everyone said to the King in those days) Then they said, “We have a great idea. Make a new law that says: for the next 30 days, no one can pray to anyone except King Darius! And if anyone breaks this law then they will be thrown to the lions.” Then they lied and said, “All the other leaders think this is a good idea.”

King Darius believed their lie. He thought EVERYONE (even Daniel) thought this was a good law. So he signed a paper that made it an official law. Now, here was the problem. Back then, if a King signed a Law, then no one could change it … not even the King!”

Well, as soon as Darius signed this law, these evil men went over to Daniel’s house and waited for him to come to his window and pray to his God. Daniel knew about this new law. But Daniel thought, “All my life I have obeyed my God, and I’m not going to stop now!” Daniel remembered what his parents had taught him (can you tell me what it is?) Always trust God --- no matter what!

So Daniel went to the window and prayed just like he did every day. Those evil men went running to King Darius and told him that Daniel broke his new law. The King was so sad! He liked Daniel … but he couldn’t change the law that he had signed. So he told his soldiers to arrest Daniel and bring him to the Lion’s Den.

When they threw Daniel into a pit that was full of hungry lions, the King said, “Daniel, may your God whom you always serve come and rescue you!” Then they King went back to his palace. He was sure he would never see Daniel again because the King knew the lions were ferocious and hungry. And he knew that lions always hunt and eat at night. The King was so sad and upset that he couldn’t eat his dinner, and he couldn’t sleep all night!

The next morning --- as soon as the sun started coming up --- King Darius went to the Lion’s Den and called out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you always serve, been able to rescue you from the Lions?”

From inside the lion’s den, the King heard Daniel’s voice reply, “Oh king, live forever…” (remember, you always have to start that way) “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the Lions. They have not hurt me because I was innocent in God’s sight, nor have I ever done anything wrong before you, oh king.”

The King ordered his soldiers to pull Daniel out of the Lion’s Den. He looked Daniel up and down and saw that he didn’t have even a scratch on him and his clothes weren’t even torn! Then the King told his soldiers to go find those evil men who tried to get Daniel killed --- and the King told his soldiers to throw THEM into the lions den!

Then the King made a new law. This law said “All the people in my country must respect the God of Daniel because He saved Daniel from the lions.”

Daniel continued to work as a ruler in Babylon for many more years. From the time he was a little boy --- all the way until he finally got old and died ---Daniel always remembered what his parents taught him (let’s say it one more time): Always trust God --- no matter what!