As a child of God living your life, from time to time, you will face some adversity that will make you either take flight or stand your ground and face the enemy fair and square.  I Jn 4: ⁴ You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

This was exactly what happened to Daniel.  Have you ever been in a situation at work or at a sports club that you belong to where you do not follow the ladies or guys to drink alcohol or go clubbing?  As a result, they think in their hearts that because you don’t socialise with them outside of work or the game/s, you are trying to say that you are better than they are.  In most cases, that is not the case.  But its about you being a Christian and wanting to do your work or play your game and not get caught up in anything you should not get caught up doing as a child of God.  2 Cor 6: ¹⁷ Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Well, if you can relate to the above, you should be able to relate to the story of Daniel.  Here he was in a strange land, having to eat strange food and he decided to not do so.  As such, the other people in authority disliked him because they felt he was behaving as if he was better than them.  They therefore decided to plot for his downfall.  The picture I have is of someone working in a big organisation like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and that person ‘Daniel’ is a team leader and the other team leaders dislike him for operating with the spirit of excellence.  Dan 6:³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.  ⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

Can you see how the enemy comes to derail a person who is doing good? Matt 13:²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.  In short, when everything seems to be going well and the children of God are minding their business, the enemy will come and disturb the status quo.

Back to Daniel, after the other ‘team leaders’ had decided to plot against Daniel, they succeed in going to the king and persuading him to make a law that will see the downfall of Daniel.  Now don’t forget that the decree that they persuaded the king in making was so that Daniel would be the victim of it.  The decree was that no one should pray to any other god but the king.  They knew that Daniel would always pray to his King, the Holy One of Israel.  True to type, Daniel 6:¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

These men then went to report Daniel to the king and the king had no choice but to put Daniel in the lions’ den.  The king was sad about this but because he was tricked in making this decree, he had no choice but to follow through with the punishment involved with disobeying his decree.  Dan 6:¹⁵ Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”

Daniel was put in the lions’ den in the evening or night and when it was dawn of the following day, Dan 6: ¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den.²⁰ 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?”  ²¹ Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! ²² 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.”  ²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

In the face of adversity, are you trusting God?  Are you still going about your daily business and doing good? Are you still setting yourself apart from evil?  Are you still operating with the spirit of excellence?  Are you trusting God to fight your battles for you? These were all the things that Daniel kept doing, that set him apart from the others.

As I write this, I decree that any power that is seeking your downfall, shall fall for your sake; Dan 6:²⁴ At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Daniel did not waver in his trust and faith in God and may God help us to also hold on to Him with unshakeable faith, as the enemy comes in like a flood, we are rest assured that our God will lift up a standard against him in Jesus name.