Day 241, or August 29. Trust God, you know it makes sense. Our thoughts today come from
Daniel chapter 6, verse 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.
And now the big picture surrounding this verse. Daniel continues his ministry of interpreting
dreams for King Nebuchadnezzar. After several short reigning monarchs, the next king mentioned
in the Bible is King Belshazzar, who is famous for seeing the writing on the wall that frightens
the life out of him—literally. Perhaps the most famous narrative we have about Daniel
is when he was thrown into the lion's den. This was under the king who succeeds Belshazzar.
He is Darius the Mead, and despite being sixty-two years old when he comes to the throne, he
shows few signs of maturity as he makes a foolish decree that traps his friend Daniel, a man
he greatly respects. This results in Daniel's adventure with lions, and his subsequent miraculous
escape, thanks to God.
And now to today's action step. Do you ever have times when everyone else's faith appears
so strong, whilst yours seems almost non-existent? Daniel's faith is outstanding, but whilst
we may long to share it, this is an appropriate time to remind ourselves that we don't have
to be spiritual giants for God to use us. People often say to believers, I wish I had
your faith, as though it's the quality and quantity of faith that strengthens us. The
Bible teaches clearly that this is not true. Jesus said, If you had faith even as small
as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, May you be uprooted and thrown into
the sea, and it would obey you. Luke 17 verse 6. I'm so grateful for this assurance, as
my faith is often so thin. However, it's not how much faith we have, it's whom we
have faith in that counts. We will probably not be tested like Daniel, but even if we
are, we only need a little faith in our great God.