Read
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!”
Daniel 6:16
Reflect
Life isn’t always easy. In fact, sometimes we are thrown into situations where it seems like not even God can save us. Daniel knew something about that.
Daniel was a faithful man of God who prayed from his upstairs room three times a day, looking toward Jerusalem. Not even a decree forbidding anyone from praying to any god or man except King Darius stopped Daniel from praying to the Lord.
A group of the king’s advisers, jealous of Daniel’s position and unable to find any corruption or negligence in him, realized that the only way they could trap him was through his faithfulness to God. They convinced Darius to issue the decree because they knew Daniel would continue praying.
And he did.
When they caught Daniel praying, they immediately reported him to the king. Darius was deeply distressed when he realized what they had done and spent the rest of the day trying to find a way to save Daniel. But the law could not be revoked, and Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den.
The next morning, the king rushed to the den and called down, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Of course, we know that Daniel went unharmed through the entire night in the company of lions. God had sent an angel to shut their mouths. Daniel was pulled from the den without injury, and Darius eventually proclaimed throughout his kingdom that people should fear and reverence the living God of Daniel.
But Daniel’s courage didn’t begin when he was thrown into the lions’ den. It had been built through years of serving God continually. Daniel prayed before the decree. He prayed after the decree. He trusted God before the lions, and he trusted God among the lions.
That’s the challenge for us.
We don’t know when our own lions’ den will come, and God does not promise that every difficult situation will end exactly the way we want it to. But He does promise to remain faithful. Our responsibility is to keep serving Him, praying to Him and trusting Him no matter what circumstances surround us.
Dare to be a Daniel. Serve the living God continually, and trust Him even when you can’t see how He will bring you through.
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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
