Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever. My God sent His angel to shut the lions’ mouths. They haven’t hurt me for I was found innocent before Him. Also, I have not committed a crime against you my king.”  Daniel 6:21-22 HCSB

The book of Daniel makes for a really good read and I strongly encourage you to take the time to sit down and read all 12 chapters. There is also a movie which highlights the book of Daniel which is good to watch, but like any story the book is always better and has more detail. One of the most famous stories from the book of Daniel is when Daniel was thrown into the Lions’ Den. Sounds pretty scary, right? I mean I think lions are beautiful creatures when I am looking at them through the strong fence at the zoo, but I’m not so sure I would want to be thrown in with them for the night. Especially if they had not eaten for a few days.

But Daniel had seen God’s deliverance and watched God work in many situations prior to this. You see Daniel loved the Lord with all his heart and did his best to be faithful to Him no matter what. Prior to this incident, he had seen the Lord give him not only the interpretation to the king’s dream, but the dream itself. He had seen the Lord make him and his three friends (who were captives) to be trusted by the king and given high positions. He had seen his friends thrown into a fiery furnace and come out unharmed. So needless to say, Daniel had seen God’s mighty powers before. He went into the lions den as he had gone into these other situations, with prayer and with faith. He was actually being thrown into the lions’ den for praying to God.

Now as we read this story, we may come to realize that we have all spent a night in the lions’ den. We have all gone into situations that could destroy us and perhaps even be life threatening. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us that as Christians we will not experience suffering. On the contrary, there are a number of verses assuring us that we will suffer. 1 Peter 5:10 tells us that after we have suffered a little while that the God of all grace, who has called us to eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. The Bible tells us that we will suffer, but it also tells us that if we remain faithful that we will see a victory.

The other really cool thing about this story is that after Daniel survived the night in the lion’s den, the king was so upset with Daniel’s accusers that he threw them into the lion’s den and they were immediately crushed and devoured. You see God doesn’t like it when people mess with His children and He will deal with them. But in order for us to be found innocent, we must leave the vengeance to Him (Romans 12:19).

We are told in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 that it is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that we will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which we are suffering, since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict us and to reward with rest those of us who are afflicted.

We can count on God when we are forced to spend the night in the lion’s den, if we are innocent. Trust in Him today, confess your sins and repent. Love Him with all your heart and obey His commands. John 14:15 tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commands. Focus on Him and allow Him to take good care of you. And remember when you are thrown into the lions’ den that God will send His angels to protect you (Psalm 91:11), morning is coming, righteousness always wins and wickedness is always punished.

Have a great day!