Living with the Lions

Procrastinators, Beware! Procrastination is a word that indicates putting something off to a later time. Many students are skilled in procrastination and writers are often considered creative procrastinators, but many of us are what I call resourceful procrastinators (a.k.a the multi-tasker). Ironically, though, procrastination was necessary for the writing of this book. Necessary? I know, I know, sounds like another form of procrastination, but keep reading. Thursday, December 20, 2012, was just another day for Christians and believers across the globe. Many were making plans to be with friends and family as they celebrated the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. However, many were singing a different tune. The following day, December 21, 2012, had been marked on the Mayan calendar as the day that the world would end. I remember seeing a website that had been posted with survival tips for the coming Apocalypse and media outlets were alive with descriptions of what people were planning to do with their last seconds on earth. Friday, December 21, came, and it went. And if you’re reading this, then the world still has not come to an end. Predictions like this have come and gone throughout the course of world history. Man has always been intrigued by what the future holds and has often gone to great lengths to make these predictions. The end of the world has been “cried wolf” far too many times. In fact, when the world does come to an end, many won’t believe it then either. Even with the witness of the Scriptures (Mark 13:32 and Matthew 24:36) that tell us no man knows the hour, we are still enamored with studying prophecy to find out when. The book of Daniel does have many prophecies about the future that are comprehensive, fascinating, and amazing, but the main point of Daniel’s writings are not solely prophetic. If the book of Daniel told us the exact day and time of the end of the world, what do you think might happen? You guessed it! PROCRASTATION! Contrary to popular opinion, the book of Daniel is not simply a collection of prophecies and predictions of future events. What it does offer to us is peace for the present. The one cohesive truth that holds the book of Daniel together is that God is in control. “Since God has controlled the past and determines the future, He manages all the in-betweens as well.”1 But let’s not stop short of the entire truth. Yes, God is in control, this is the theological aspect, but there is also a practical aspect because theology should be relevant. Do you realize that most, if not every occurrence of prophecy in the Scripture, are surrounded with words of encouragement to live righteously until Christ comes again? (Even God knew we would procrastinate). There is a reason for this. Once we get hold of the truth that God is in control, we start living differently; we begin to trust God despite the dangers. Sadly, though, many believers say they believe in God but live like He doesn’t exist. These people are, as Craig Groeschel calls them, “Christian Atheists.”2 Toward the end of his book, Groeschel recounts one very convicting story. Charles Blondin was a world-renowned tightrope artist and acrobat. On June 30, 1859, before a stunned crowd of 100,000 excited onlookers, Blondin was the first person to cross Niagara Falls by tightrope. He crossed 1100 feet on a single three-inch hemp cord, strung from 160 feet above the falls on one side to a spot 270 feet above the falls on the other. The breathless assembly watched him accomplish, step by slow step, a feat most believed impossible. But Blondin was just getting started. In the years to come, the daring entertainer crossed again and again: on stilts, in a sack, even pushing a wheelbarrow! The story goes that an exuberant onlooker called out, “You could cross with a man in that wheelbarrow!” Blondin agreed and invited the man to climb in. The spectator nervously declined.3 We know that God is in control, and we believe Him wholeheartedly but are we willing to act on the truth that He is in control? When the lions challenged Daniel and his three friends, they trusted God despite the dangers. When the heat is turned up in your life, and the pressure is making you buckle, how do you respond? Believing that God is in control caused Daniel and his three friends to respond to life’s challenges differently, and the Babylonians noticed it. Stepping back and looking at the other side of the issue may help us gain perspective. It goes like this: If we don’t seek God’s help in a given circumstance means we believe God is not in control of the situation and He cannot help us. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves. What if I were to telling you that God is pushing the wheelbarrow? Shouldn’t that make it easier for us to jump in? Living with the lions sounds like a daunting task, especially when we realize that for most of us it becomes a life long journey. But don’t let discouragement get the best of you! This is the very point at which the book of Daniel shines brightest. When we study Daniel chapters 1-6, we uncover six essentials truths, one in each chapter. From these six truths, we form six principles that teach us the right way to respond when the lions challenge us. In chapter one, Daniel and his friends respond with poise when their faith is challenged. In chapter two, Daniel, and his three friends respond with prayer as a first response and not a last resort. In chapter three, Daniel’s three friends respond with perseverance as the heat is turned up. In chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar becomes the epitome of man’s desire to rule his own destiny. But his dreams are quickly brought crashing down as he realized Who is in control. He responds with praise, but his predecessor isn’t so motivated. In chapter five Belshazzar, though aware of what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, chose to respond with the wrong perspective; a choice that cost him everything. Lastly, in chapter six, we see an elderly saint of God, who responds with peace in a situation that is spiraling out of control. When we respond to our circumstances with poise, prayer, perseverance, praise, perspective, and peace, we begin to trust God despite the dangers. We must not forget, however, that all six principles are married to one vital truth – God is in control. This means that until we start acting on the truth God is in control, implementing these principles into our lives will be ineffective. In addition, these principles are not to be implemented abruptly as some magic formula for success in the Christian life. It seems that many Christians are guilty of doing the Christian life backwards. Rebekah Shaffer writes about this revolutionary truth in her book, “Second Best Christians.”4 She cites the examples of Hannah and Mary as individuals who followed the right path for living the Christian life. They experienced God first through worship, and then trusted Him to help them through their difficulty, which led them to practice their faith. So many times we forget about the worship part, which is the first and most important thing! We can’t live our Christian lives without the fuel of worship. Hannah and Mary understood the formula, and we can add Daniel to the list as well. Daniel’s secret to his success was that he prayed three times a day. He spent time worshipping God and experiencing God’s presence first, then he trusted that God was in control of all that happened to him, and then he was able to live out his faith successfully.