Daniel, Episode 4: A Night in the Lions' Den

Hey Carpool Crew! I'm Pastor Justin, and today we're back for episode 4 of our journey with Daniel. This is the one. This is the episode I promised you all the way back in episode 1. Today, Daniel goes into the lions' den. But before we get there, let me catch you up, because by now this is so much more than a lion story. In episode 1, Daniel was a teenager taken from his home to Babylon, and he learned that God goes where you go. In episode 2, he passed the food test and stayed the same kid even when nobody from home was watching. In episode 3, Daniel was an old man, around eighty years old, and some jealous men tricked the king into making a law that said praying to God would get you thrown to the lions. And Daniel? He went home, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, got on his knees, and prayed just as he always had. He kept doing right, even when right got dangerous. So now you know how he got here. Let's pick the story back up. The jealous officials got exactly what they were waiting for. They snuck up to Daniel's house, and they caught him doing the very thing they knew he would do. Praying to God. Just like always. So they ran straight to King Darius, and they reminded him about the law he had signed. The law that could not be changed. And then they said it. Daniel is praying to his God. Three times a day. Throw him to the lions. Now here's something the story wants you to see. King Darius did not want to do this. Not even a little. Remember, Darius loved Daniel. He trusted him. He was about to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom. When the king realized he'd been tricked, the Bible says he was very upset. He spent the entire rest of that day trying to find any way, any loophole, any rule, to save Daniel's life. But there was nothing he could do. He had signed the law himself, and a Persian king's law could not be undone. Not even by the king. Darius was stuck inside his own rule. And the sun was going down. So as the light faded, the guards brought Daniel out. An old man, eighty years old, who had served God his whole life, who had served this kingdom faithfully, was walked to the edge of a deep pit. A den. And down inside it, in the dark, were the lions. Hungry lions. Real ones. With real teeth. I want us to slow down right here, because this was terrifying. I'm not going to skip past how scary this really was. Daniel could hear them. He could probably smell them. This was the end of the road his enemies had built for him, and it looked like the end of everything. But listen to what King Darius said to Daniel right before the guards put him in. This king, who had no power left to save him, looked at Daniel and said, may your God, the one you serve so faithfully, rescue you. Even the king was hoping in Daniel's God. Then they lowered Daniel into the den. And they rolled a huge stone over the opening. And the king sealed it shut so nobody could move it. And Daniel was alone in the dark with the lions. Now here is what I love. The Bible follows the king for a minute, not Daniel. King Darius went back to his palace, but he could not eat. He would not let anyone bring him any music or any comfort. He could not sleep one wink all night long. The most powerful man in the world spent the whole night sick with worry over Daniel, while Daniel was down in the den. I want you to sit in that for a second, because it tells you something surprising. The most powerful man in the world could do absolutely nothing. All his armies, all his gold, all his power, and he couldn't save one good man from a law he had signed himself. And meanwhile, down in the dark, the man everyone was worried about was the one who was actually okay. The king was up in his fancy palace falling apart, and Daniel was down in the den, held by God. Sometimes the safest place in the world is the scary place, when God is the one holding you there. And the second the sun came up, Darius jumped up and ran. He ran to that den as fast as an old king could go. And when he got there, listen to this, his voice was actually shaking. He called down into the pit, in a voice full of fear, Daniel! Servant of the living God! Has your God, the one you serve all the time, been able to rescue you from the lions? And from down in the dark, an old man's voice called back up. Daniel was alive. And here is what Daniel said. This is Daniel chapter 6, verse 22. "My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths; and they haven't harmed me, for I was found innocent before him. And also before you, Your Majesty, I have not done harm." God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths. All night long, in the dark, in the most dangerous place in the entire kingdom, God was right there with Daniel. The lions were there. The danger was real. But so was God. The king pulled Daniel up out of that den, and the Bible says there was not a single scratch on him, because he had trusted his God. Now I want to point out something so important that it changes the whole way you read this story. God did not keep Daniel out of the den. Read that again in your head. God did not stop Daniel from getting thrown to the lions. Daniel still got arrested. Daniel still got walked to the pit. Daniel still spent the whole night down in the dark with the lions. God let all of that happen. But God was with him in it. That's the part. God didn't take the den away. God went into the den with him. There's a huge difference, and it's the difference your whole life will hang on someday. I don't want to rush past this, because it might be the most important thing in the whole episode. A lot of people think being close to God means nothing bad will ever happen to you. That if you just love God enough, He will keep every den out of your life. But that is not what the Bible promises, and it is not what happened to Daniel. Daniel loved God with his whole heart, and he still ended up in the pit. Loving God did not keep him out of the dark. What it meant was that he was never, ever alone in it. Because sometimes, God keeps you out of the scary thing. And we thank Him for that. But sometimes God doesn't. Sometimes you still have to walk into the hard thing, the scary thing, the dark thing. And the promise of the Bible is not that you'll never face a den. The promise is that you will never face it alone. God goes in with you. Just like He did with Daniel. And that brings us to the one thing I want you to carry out of this episode. Daniel prayed even when it was dangerous, and God was with him in the den. Brave prayer is never wasted. Think back to episode 3. Daniel knew that praying could send him to the lions. And he prayed anyway. From the outside, it might have looked like that brave prayer is what got him in trouble. But that brave prayer is exactly what Daniel was still doing when he was the kind of man God shut the lions' mouths for. His brave prayer was never wasted. Not one word of it. So let's bring this home to you, because you have dens too. They don't have lions, but you know exactly what they feel like. Maybe your den is a doctor's appointment or a test result your family is waiting on, and you're scared. Maybe your den is your parents going through something really hard at home, and you can hear it, and you can't fix it. Maybe your den is a bully you have to face at school tomorrow, and your stomach hurts just thinking about it. Maybe your den is a sadness you can't even explain, that shows up at night when the lights go off. Maybe your den is a friendship that fell apart and you don't know how to fix it. Maybe it's a worry about somebody you love that you just can't make stop. Those are real dens. And they're scary in the dark, just like Daniel's. Here is what Daniel teaches you about your den. You can pray right in the middle of it. You don't have to wait until the scary thing is over. Daniel didn't pray to get out of the den, he prayed in the den, and God was right there with him. So when you're in your den tonight, you can talk to God right there. You can say, God, I'm scared, and I know You're in here with me. That is a brave prayer. And brave prayer is never wasted. And here's something so important I have to say it slowly, because the Bible is honest, and so am I. Daniel walked out of his den without a scratch. But that doesn't mean every hard thing in your life is going to end exactly the way you want it to. Sometimes the test comes back hard. Sometimes the scary thing is still scary for a long time. God is not a vending machine where brave prayer always buys you the easy ending. But here is what is always, always true, in every den, every single time. God is with you in it. He never once leaves you in the dark alone. And that is the thing Daniel would want you to know more than anything. So this week, when you find yourself in a den, do what Daniel did. Pray right there in it. Out loud, or just in your heart. God, I'm scared, but I know You're with me in here. And then trust that not one word of that brave prayer is wasted. Daniel walked out of that den alive. But the story isn't over. Because what happened next, when King Darius saw that Daniel's God had shut the mouths of lions, changed not just one man, but an entire kingdom. And that's where we're going next time. Thanks for riding along today on Carpooling with Heroes of the Bible! Next time is our final episode with Daniel, and it's about what one faithful person can do. We're going to see a powerful king stand up in front of his whole empire and tell everyone to worship the living God of Daniel. You will not want to miss how this story ends. And remember, whatever den you're walking through, God is in there with you, because He loves you. I'll see you next time, Carpool Crew. ================================================