When the World Is Against You…God is For You

Verses: Daniel 6 : 10 - 18

My thoughts about the verses:

We have to remember that the world does not have the final power over us.  We go through life thinking we have to watch people that are trying to come against us.  Many of us will hide our Christianity idea because we are afraid of retaliations.  In some countries it is against the very law to be a Christian.  In some places of the world being a Christian can bring you physical and emotional harm.  It is easy to understand why people feel that they have to stay hidden when they are worshipping God.

Daniel knew that the law was put into place.  He knew that if he continued worshiping God he would face a very harsh punishment.  Yet, his love of God was so strong that he continued to pray three times a day.  Going to God to thank God for what was happening in his life.  He prayed to God for his needs.  He did this without fear.  He did not worry about the things that would hurt him in this world.

The King was put in an awkward place.  Here come the leaders reminding him of the law that he wrote that could not be reversed.  Yet, here stood Daniel one that he liked and wanted to put over his Kingdom.  King Darius did not want to go through with it.  Yet, he knew he had no choice but to go with the law he passed.  Imagine what would happen to the rest of his laws if he changed this one for the benefit of this one man. 

King Darius has Daniel thrown into the den of lions.  Yet, before he does this he tells Daniel that he hopes his God will save him.  He wants to ensure that no one does anything to Daniel other than what the law states.  He then places a large stone in front of the den and seals it with his signet ring.  He doesn’t stop there he spends the whole night fasting and praying that Daniel will be okay.  He was asking for the safety of one that he cared about.

Imagine what it would feel like to be imprisoned because of your worship of God.  People all over the world feel this threat.  There are so many places in which being Christian is against the law.  The people know that if they worship God they could be imprisoned or killed.  Yet, they do not stop worshiping the Most High.  They risk their lives to ensure that they spend time with the One that has saved them.

Then we need to look at those that are free to worship.  How many times are they belittled or treated differently because of their dedication to God?  The fact is that they might not face prison or death, but they often live in hiding, so they are not affected by those that think they are not worthy enough to worship God.  I think of those in the GLBTIQA community when I think of this situation.  Many are more willing to admit that they are Gay than admit that they are Gay Christians.

I stand and say that I am a Christian that happens to be a Lesbian.  The most important thing to me is that I am a Christian.  Yet, there are so many others go through trials and ridicule because they say they ae Christian.  The fact is that there are people in the GLBTIQA community that harass others in the community that announce they are Christians.   People do that because they have been hurt by Christian groups that do not believe that Gays can be Christians.

What we have to remember is that God is for us.  When the world is coming down around us that God will be there lifting us up.  God will protect us and will bring people in our lives that will help them with their problems.  God will be there no matter what.  We need to make sure that we understand that being a Christian is something that we feel ashamed of.  God helps Christians and we must always keep us in the comforting arms of God.

Let the world go against us.  Yet, we need to remember that God is there with us.  As the world tries to destroy God will lift us up and guide us.  We need to never fear as long as God is in our life. 

Prayer:

We praise you Holy God.  We lift up your name in honor.  We thank you for your love.  We ask that you help us to remember that you are there in our life.  When the world is uniting against us you are there protecting us.  In the name of the Great Comforter we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you willing to walk with God no matter what happens?  Are you willing to accept the life that God has for you?  Have you accepted the help from the people God has given in your life?  If you are legally able to stand up and say that you are a Christian?  If you are not legally able to stand up are you willing to give God your love and by your life leads others to Christ’s love?