A few months back, I began teaching verse-by-verse through the amazing Old Testament book of Daniel. In God’s perfect timing, the recent crisis that has the globe feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and uncertain is precisely what Daniel experienced.
When there is nothing you can do, there is always one thing you can do – pray!
Do you find yourself worn out, exhausted, and overwhelmed lately? Most everyone on the planet does. The question is, how can we process all that we are hearing and fearing so that even if things are not well around us, things are well within us?
You probably feel exactly as Daniel did. He got bad news that was completely beyond his control. Around the world, houses of worship have been closed for some weeks. In Daniel’s day, their version of the church was the Temple and it had been closed for some seventy years.
The storyline of the news lately should sound eerily familiar to every Christian. We have been told that we have a world war against an unseen enemy. For Christians, we have always known that sin has infected everyone, is a global pandemic, causes death, and needs a cure, hence our love for the risen defeater of death, Jesus Christ.
When I was a kid, there was a drive-in movie theater near our house that was turned into a swap meet on the weekends. I remember being amazed at the great deals on everything from name brand clothing and shoes, to handbags and luggage. Then, I was told that pretty much everything for sale there was a forgery or fake.
In school as a kid, I was taught the evolutionary myth that humanity is inherently good, great, and continually improving. But, the longer I have lived and the more I have witnessed in this world and read about the history of this world, it seems obvious that things are getting worse and not better.
Our youngest son may have the world record for nicknames. With four older siblings who all loved him, growing up he was continually getting new nicknames assigned to him.
When I was in middle school, my classmates hosted a play. As we sat watching the story unfold on the stage, I will never forget that one of the stagehands made a big mistake and opened up the curtain revealing all the workers laboring behind the scenes.
Today, nations are represented by animals. The United States, for example, is identified with the bald eagle and our political parties are represented by a donkey and elephant.
With an election season underway, people are pretty much just freaking out constantly. As we are studying Daniel, the world he lives in is far more perilous, precarious, and problematic than ours. Yet, he keeps his head and, generally speaking, is emotionally healthy and marches forward in faith for more than seven decades.
When you are suffering, always remember that lost people are watching. Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den as punishment for praying to his God openly and publicly. God miraculously delivered him.