What would do if what you were meant to be in life only brought heartache and pain? What if, the more skilled you were at being the best you could be at something only made life more difficult for you? Think of any skill or calling. To be the best physician, the best auto mechanic, the best accountant, the best grocery bagger, whatever the profession – what would you do if the better you were at your calling – the harder life became for you?
We talked last weekend about how we are all weighed in the balance of God’s justice. Think of it that way, as an old-fashioned scale with two counterweights. The heavier one side becomes, the more it raises the other side. So imagine one side as your calling and the other side as your hardship level. The better you are at what you do, the harder life becomes – as a direct result of your ability and skill in what you are meant to do! If that were the case, wouldn’t you be tempted to neglect your obligation in order to save yourself from hardship and pain? Of course, we would all feel the impulse to do this – and yet at the same time we would still feel the impulse to do what we are called to do.
Sounds like the makings for complete insanity – but it’s more realistic than you might think. We see that very thing happen to Daniel in our lesson today. He was persecuted precisely because he was good at what God had called him to do. Verse 5 of the chapter says, Then these men said, “We will not find any accusation to bring against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.” The adversaries of Daniel knew they could only trap Daniel by finding a way to outlaw what Daniel was good at – namely, following God faithfully. Was Daniel perfect? No. But his faith in God was strong. Daniel’s faith has been on display throughout our series, from the moment he arrived in Babylon as a teenager, to this man as an old man under the Medo-Persian empire. Daniel had built a reputation of faithfulness and obedience to the rulers he served, and to the one, true God. So, his opponents knew that they could not catch Daniel breaking the law unless they had the law changed.
So, very quickly, Daniel found himself in the exact situation that I just described. So far, Daniel’s entire life was about following the LORD and providing an excellent witness of his faith. This was his calling in life, and he was skilled at it. And now, after many years of serving God, everything Daniel had spent time working to hone and develop would now put him at risk of losing his life in a very horrible and painful way.
What if you were in the same position? What if, the situation was not just a matter a persecution – but martyrdom – life and death? Daniel didn’t seem surprised at that prospect. He knew what the den of lions was designed to do, and it wasn’t just to punish someone. The same was true of Shadrak, Meshach, and Abednego in chapter 3 – they were in the same situation. They knew what result was at the end of their faithful confession of the true God. So, what would you do? Hard to imagine such a scenario. That’s part of what makes it tough – how can a Christian prepare for such a thing – there is no way. The reality of Daniel’s situation may seem distant from your life, but it’s not – not in meaning anyway. Each day, your faith is tested and so also is your trust and faithfulness in God. A den of lions, or even physical death, may sound extreme, but something far more deadly awaits – spiritual death – separation from God. Sometimes we forget this because the world has changed the law so much that the truth is barely recognizable. The same thing happened in the OT.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Amos 5:7 “You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
It’s also easy to forget because by nature, we want the scale to stay even. We don’t want to draw negative attention, even when it comes as a result of being faithful to God. We know there are plenty of outs to standing for God’s truth, easy ways to slip back into the world so that people won’t notice us anymore. After all, doesn’t the catchy saying tell us that the nail that sticks out is the one that meets the hammer? Who wants that to happen in life? Better to keep our balances between calling and hardship even.
We must humbly recognize how both our hearts and the world have changed because of sin. Both entities are now subject to distortion and corruption. This world is a semblance of the one that God first created, but it’s all we know. From the moment your eyes first opened, and you took your first breath, true reality as God designed it has been elusive to your perception. We all have been raised in a system that is warped and broken – which constantly threatens to misrepresent truth, goodness, and happiness to us.
Even our hearts are shaped by this corrupted system. Therefore, when we attempt to weigh our lives – thoughts, words, and actions - in the balance of morality and God’s will, we are at an extreme disadvantage to finding the truth. Both we, and the world, are programmed to lie and deceive. So, when we see people like Daniel make the decisions that they do for the reasons that they do – it seems weird and foolish. It is foreign to the definition of reality that we have absorbed from our first day to the present day here on earth.
Likewise, it also seems misplaced that tremendous amounts of pain, hardship, injustice, and even loss of life would come upon a person precisely because they are faithful to God. Why would God design such a system? The answer is that He didn’t, at least in the entirety of the way that life functions today. God designed the world to be much different; it was mankind in their freedom who chose a different result.
When we combine all of these factors - life with God, and consequently life after this world, seem like an unachievable dream. And there’s a hint of truth to that because taken alone that point is a fact. We cannot undo this swarming evil in our hearts and the world around us. We cannot make straight what has long been crooked. We cannot see beyond the warped nature of the way our minds interpret reality to us.
There is only one force that breaks this damning cycle – and it is God’s Word. The Word of God is the source that first revealed God’s restorative plan to you and for you. The Word unapologetically declares the utter hopelessness of the situation that man created, but also the complete reversal of the same through Jesus Christ. And the Word which reveals these blessed realities is inseparable to the One who accomplished them. This is why Jesus is revealed to be the “Word made flesh.” Jesus is the hope of God in human form. Jesus is the reason behind the perplexed believer who is punished for following God. Jesus is the answer to the inquisitive skeptic who sees no value in a religion that offers pain and hardship to its most faithful followers. Jesus is all of these things, and more, because He is the One revealed by the Bible.
Indeed, you can find many other belief systems, some even called Christian, that will use the same Bible, yet reveal a different hope. But the same God who created the perfect world, the perfect human mind, and the spotless human heart, promises that when mortal men and women use the Bible as He intended, with eyes of faith and ears of respect – it is always Jesus that they will see through it.
In fact, take a moment to look deeper at this text – and you’ll see Jesus more than you expect. What Daniel endured is unmistakably similar to Jesus’ act of atonement on the cross:
· A righteous man who was hated without cause
Conspiracy set against this man – with false witnesses
·
Using a twisted version of the law
against the righteous one.
·
The truth that was plain and open for
all to see, even the authorities
·
Wavering and regret in those authorities
who committed injustice
·
A death sentence sealed (literally)
·
An unbelievable deliverance from death
·
A sign to the rest of mankind about who
is in control
I think this is what you’ll see more often when you use God’s Word to give meaning to the events of your life. This doesn’t mean you force the Word where it doesn’t fit, but rather you trust that it is sufficient to guide you through every situation you face. And as you study the Bible more, you’ll find that what you see through Daniel really is not all that surprising – because your focus is shifting from what you and the world say is real, to what God promises is real.
We see believers who are being shaped and led in the same image as their Savior. Putting into practice what has been in their hearts – what has given them spiritual life and what has sustained them in this desolate veil of tears.
So, how does this translate to your life? Well, you don’t need to go out looking for death, or even opportunities to showcase your strong faith. Life is God’s gift and blessing – cherish it. But, start small to build more than just this life. Begin by seeking awareness of the trouble spots in your heart - in the way you think about and perceive the truth. Extend that to the world around you. Are you taking in harmful information? Is a person, habit, form of media changing the way God presents Himself to you through His Word? Cut those things out – treat them like you would treat a disease in your body.
Seek the LORD’s help through prayer. He offers it. Daniel used it. It sustained him. It brought the calm and peace of Jesus – even in the most intense moments. And most important of all – keep the Word of God as the source of your faith. What I mean by this is the thing that begets truth, substance, and hope to you. The need for such a cause is always present – if God does not fill that role something else will. When the Word is there – you are protected. You have the power of God to confront eternal enemies. You have an endless source of forgiveness. You have unlimited grace for struggle, hopelessness, pain, mistakes, and any other bump along life’s road. And – best of all – you will have Jesus – the Word made flesh. And before you know it, the Holy Spirit will be conforming your life away from the twisted world, and closer to Jesus – and you too, like, Daniel will mirror your Lord and Savior.
Paul was another believer beset with unbelievable trials like Daniel. He received pain and hardship because he was faithful to God. But listen to Paul describe his faith, and you’ll find he received something greater than unfair retribution from the world:
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
This is the result of believer’s life tipping like a scale in favor of faithfulness to Jesus and from Jesus. Yes, it will be bring a host of troubles from those who hate submission to God. The stronger your faith – the harder they’ll come at you. But even more, it means the eternal weight of glory in heaven. May God give you strength to meet the challenges you face, to endure the trials that confront you, to remain steadfast when you are tempted to balance the scales of reality on your own. What may seem like an impossible task today, is soon made light and easy by Jesus. Amen.
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