Eddie Corne
January 22, 2012
Living for God in Everyday Life.
Text: Daniel 6:16
16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
Intro: Daniel is one of the most courageous and faithful men in the entire Bible. But not for the reasons we usually think.
For example, when telling the story of Daniel and the lions’ den, most people usually focus on Daniel’s courage in the lions’ den itself. But what’s curiously missing from the whole story is any description of Daniel’s experience in it. Not one word.
One hundred and fifty-three verses on his life before the lions’ den. Aside from when he tells the king that God had shut the mouths of the lions, zero describing his time in it.
And the reason is because Daniel’s courage and faith in the lions’ den isn’t the point. After all, shutting the mouths of the lions was God’s thing. Once Daniel gets thrown in the lions’ den, what is he really going to do?
I’ll tell you what he was going to do. It was what he has always done that is being faithful regardless of situation. Even if deliverance did not come, Daniel was going to faithfully serve God.
We have all heard it said that we can’t choose our circumstance but we can choose what we are going to do in the midst of them. Have you ever said or maybe heard someone else say, “Lord, if you get me out of this jam I promise you I will serve you.” We all know that is not how it works.
We must do as Daniel did and make consistent daily choices to serve God regardless of the ups and downs. Life isn’t always like the movies, exciting and adventurous, a lot of times it is simply mundane and routine. And it is during these times when how we choose to live matters.
Let us look at Daniel and glean a perspective on how to live life day by day.
1. Daniel had made a decision to live righteous.
Daniel1:4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
Daniel wasn’t living in the best of conditions. He after all was in captivity. Many today fear what our schools are teaching our kids that somehow this will influence them to not live for God.
The Kings School - All kinds of literature and learning (1:17–20). Archeology has revealed what the four young Jews must have studied. This would include spoken Chaldean; cuneiform writing in Chaldean and Akkadian; spoken and written Aramaic; and a great mass of Sumerian religious, magical, astrological, and scientific writings. When commitment to God is strong, a pagan education in a pagan society need not corrupt us.
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.
I am telling you that when you have had an encounter with God, your heart changes and it makes no difference of your environment or your schooling. Daniel had an encounter with God and he made a decision that he was going to serve God regardless of the conditions. Daniel had made a decision to live righteous.
2. Daniel had a right perspective of God.
Daniel 2:12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
The king had established a decree to kill all the wise men in Babylon because they couldn’t interpret his dream without knowing the dream. Daniel hadn’t even at this point been given the opportunity to interpret the dream, but was going to be killed regardless.
So what did Daniel do he sought God for direction.
Daniel 2: 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel handled this whole situation calmly because he knew God well.
Daniel 2:20-23 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Daniel had a right perspective of God.
3. Daniel had a proper perspective of himself.
Some are tempted to take credit for their special gifts or abilities. Not Daniel. He took great care to explain that interpreting dreams was beyond his natural capacity. God was the source of the revelation he had received. Let’s adopt Daniel’s attitude today.
Daniel gave God the Glory.
Daniel 2:27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.
When we live like Daniel in righteousness with a proper perspective for God and ourselves it will have an impact on others. Look what later happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Daniel had a proper perspective of himself.
4. Daniel didn’t use his choice for righteousness on self-promotion.
After King Nebuchadnezzar was no longer king and his son ruled in his place. Daniel was once again faced with the opportunity to interpret something for the King. The king was offering gifts and rewards to Daniel if he would give him the interpretation.
5:17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.
This is an attitude that is a little counter culture in the church world today. So many want to live there life for God, based on what they can get, not Daniel. He didn’t use his choice for righteousness on self-promotion.
5. Daniel continuously chose to obey God in spite of man.
Daniel 6: 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
May it be said of us that no error or fault is found in us. This is not to say Daniel was completely perfect but rather he had chosen to obey God and he lived his life according to God and His ways. So when it came time to pray like he always did, he done what he always done. Prayed.
“Windows opened toward Jerusalem” (6:10). Daniel prayed where he always had, in his own home, in an upstairs room. He did not directly challenge Darius’ law, but neither would he retreat from his open commitment to God. There’s a balance here that is difficult for us to maintain.
Daniel 6:10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
When we choose to live our life daily for God in the ups and downs of life, in the good times and bad times, it doesn’t matter what man may try to do to influence us to do otherwise, we will do like Daniel and do what we have always done. When we develop that kind of habit and attitude about serving God we can’t help but to prosper. It didn’t matter for Daniel who was king, because he served the King of Kings.
Daniel 6:28 So, this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel continuously chose to obey God in spite of man.
Closing:
Daniel’s courage and faithfulness was shown in the way he lived that got him thrown into the lions’ den. The real miracle was when his enemies were looking for a way to accuse him but they couldn’t find anything in his life. So they had to make up a law forbidding prayer to anyone but the king to get him thrown in. And yet he still prayed. That’s real courage. That’s real faith. And it was that courage and faith that became the setup for God’s display of faithfulness.
I think most people want a lions’ den experience. Maybe not the danger, but they do want to see God do huge things in their life. Come through for them in big ways. Decisively display His deliverance. Show people that our God is still a God who can accomplish the impossible.
But most people will never have the opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness in the lions’ den because they have not proved their faith in everyday life.
They’re not going to see God come through for them in a huge way financially because they haven’t learned to trust Him with 10% of what they have.
They’re not going to see increased favor at work because they segregate God from their work.
They’re not going to see God use them in powerful ways at their school because they live in such a way that no one knows they even believe in God.
Don’t try to be like Daniel in the lions’ den. Be like Daniel who prayed every day and had integrity. Be like Daniel and serve God continually in every aspect of your life. Have the courage and faith to live in such a way that God actually has a platform to show His faithfulness from.
And then God will take care of the lions’ dens of life.
