Week 11: Day 4

Intro: Hi, welcome to Orbit! My name is Lois and I’m going to be leading us through a Bible study reflection on Daniel 6:17-22

Bible: A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’

Daniel answered, ‘May the king live for ever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.’

Thoughts: In this passage, the worst has happened to Daniel. He ended up being captured for continuing to pray and is savagely thrown into a lion’s den. We are told in the passage that Daniel’s situation realistically cannot be changed. His fate is sealed and there is nothing that can be done.

But then we read at the end of this passage that Daniel walks out of there unharmed! The king remarks that this is because of the living God – that is what makes the difference in this story, the presence of the living God. Daniel serves the living God who cannot be limited by ‘realistic’ circumstances. God does his work and Daniel survives.

That is the nature of the God that Daniel served and that we serve. He’s so powerful that he cannot be limited by anything in all of creation – not the will of the king, not the will of those against Daniel, not even the will of the lions!

This passage is a beautiful, practical reminder to us that our God reigns. The one who is all-powerful. Jesus Christ – named in scripture as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one who died but not even death could contain him, the one who now lives… that is the God that we serve.

This truth gives us a completely new perspective on our circumstances and our problems. Daniel was facing a massive problem – he was in a den with hungry lions, there was no realistic hope for him but God had other plans. In our lives, our circumstances can sometimes look dire, but we need to be reminded of the true reality of our situations. We serve a powerful God who is so good and so kind.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the film Inception? It’s a very complicated story that I won’t attempt to explain now but what is worth noting is that in the story, the main character has the spinning top that he spins every time he feels like he is losing grip on reality and what’s real and he uses it to remind him of what is real. This story feels like that to me; it’s a reminder of what’s real, what’s true despite what circumstances might be saying.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you so much that you are so powerful, there is nothing in creation that can come against us. You are King of Kings. I pray Lord God that for anyone who is listening who has lost sight on who you are, who feels overwhelmed by circumstances today, would you give them a fresh perspective on who you are, your goodness, your power – that we would see things clearly as we go through our daily lives. Amen

Challenge: Take some time to shift your perspective in a practical way. You might like to listen to some worship music, journal a few thoughts around God and who he is, read a psalm that talks about the greatness of God, whatever would help remind you of who God is and shift your perspective.

Outro: Thanks so much for listening to Orbit today – I’ll see you tomorrow!