Into The Lions Den

I. Hate. CONFRONTATION!!

Seriously.

Divorce is not a place to hate confrontation.

Neither is life, while I think about it.  We have to confront people,
circumstances...our own shortcomings.

Specifically, though, I hate confronting people.  I just want everyone
to play well.  As we all know all too well, we don't play well.  So we
have to confront people and issues.

This morning I had to go to a step two grievance at work - basically,
I had to face my tormentor.  I was DREADING IT!  Yes, the mighty woman
of faith was...wimpy.  Dreading.  Deep sigh.

I felt like I was Daniel going into the lions den. Me versus the
machine.  After months of this, it's gotten old, and I am at the mercy
of the powers that be.

It's like that going to court with your divorce.  No matter how
prepared you are, how many ducks in a row, how prayed up you are, the
bottom line is this - you are in a court of law, and ultimately the
judge decides, and you must follow what he says.

Intimidating.  For a lot of people, you don't want to be in the same
room your ex.  You have to play nice when you don't want to.

But take a minute here and read the story of Daniel - in the Message.
Really reflect on it, read it:

Daniel 6
The Message (MSG)

Daniel in the Lions' Den
6 1-3 Darius reorganized his kingdom. He appointed one hundred twenty
governors to administer all the parts of his realm. Over them were
three vice-regents, one of whom was Daniel. The governors reported to
the vice-regents, who made sure that everything was in order for the
king. But Daniel, brimming with spirit and intelligence, so completely
outclassed the other vice-regents and governors that the king decided
to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.

4-5 The vice-regents and governors got together to find some old
scandal or skeleton in Daniel's life that they could use against him,
but they couldn't dig up anything. He was totally exemplary and
trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence or misconduct.
So they finally gave up and said, "We're never going to find anything
against this Daniel unless we can cook up something religious."

6-7 The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to
the king and said, "King Darius, live forever! We've convened your
vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have
agreed that the king should issue the following decree:

For the next thirty days no one is to pray to any god or mortal except
you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lions' den.

8 "Issue this decree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written
in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians."

9 King Darius signed the decree.

10 When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he
continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in
the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt
there in prayer, thanking and praising his God.

11-12 The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for
help. They went straight to the king and reminded him of the royal
decree that he had signed. "Did you not," they said, "sign a decree
forbidding anyone to pray to any god or man except you for the next
thirty days? And anyone caught doing it would be thrown into the
lions' den?"

"Absolutely," said the king. "Written in stone, like all the laws of
the Medes and Persians."

13 Then they said, "Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, ignores you, O
king, and defies your decree. Three times a day he prays."

14 At this, the king was very upset and tried his best to get Daniel
out of the fix he'd put him in. He worked at it the whole day long.

15 But then the conspirators were back: "Remember, O king, it's the
law of the Medes and Persians that the king's decree can never be
changed."

16 The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the
lions' den. But he said to Daniel, "Your God, to whom you are so
loyal, is going to get you out of this."

17 A stone slab was placed over the opening of the den. The king
sealed the cover with his signet ring and the signet rings of all his
nobles, fixing Daniel's fate.

18 The king then went back to his palace. He refused supper. He
couldn't sleep. He spent the night fasting.

19-20 At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. As he
approached the den, he called out anxiously, "Daniel, servant of the
living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from
the lions?"

21-22 "O king, live forever!" said Daniel. "My God sent his angel, who
closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. I've
been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I've done
nothing to harm you."

23 When the king heard these words, he was happy. He ordered Daniel
taken up out of the den. When he was hauled up, there wasn't a scratch
on him. He had trusted his God.

24 Then the king commanded that the conspirators who had informed on
Daniel be thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and
children. Before they hit the floor, the lions had them in their jaws,
tearing them to pieces.

25-27 King Darius published this proclamation to every race, color,
and creed on earth:

Peace to you! Abundant peace!
    I decree that Daniel's God shall be worshiped and feared in all
parts of my kingdom.
    He is the living God, world without end. His kingdom never falls.
    His rule continues eternally.
    He is a savior and rescuer.
    He performs astonishing miracles in heaven and on earth.
    He saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

28 From then on, Daniel was treated well during the reign of Darius,
and also in the following reign of Cyrus the Persian.



Daniel took a stand - he did what was right. He refused to compromise.
He didn't bow to the laws of the evil leaders.

I'm not saying don't follow the law - we must! - but the is a higher
law.  GOD has ultimate control. Our part is to stay true to God's
Word, to take the moral high ground.

God saved Daniel from a certain death - there is no other
explaination.  The tormentors met the fate they had planned for
Daniel.

You may not get the ruling you want at court.  It may not work out the
way you want it to - there will probably be at least one componant
that isn't what you wanted.

But know this - GOD is in control.  HE know's what He is doing.  The
manifestation of His favor may take months or even years to see.  You
might not understand now - but one day you will.

Trust God.  Trust God.  

We love you and bless you and pray for you - stay encouraged!