Devotional on Daniel

2011 – Paris – Louvre

Tempting God
Daniel 6: Your God…is going to get you out of this.
Darius’ ego trip has put one of his most loyal supporters in jeopardy. The command making himself the only object of prayer was a dumb one in the first place. Who does he think he is anyway? I see that when the trap is sprung that Darius works all day long trying to find a way to reverse it. I don’t get that one. Law of the Medes and Persians or not, he is the King after all. Finally, Darius gives up and prepares to toss Daniel into the den of lions. Darius gives Daniel a pep talk and in he goes. In this passage Darius is cut a lot of slack so I need to be careful in how I think about it. Still, I have to admit that Darius gets under my skin a bit. He makes a dumb law. Then, even though he is king and all, can’t figure a way out of it. He then tells Daniel, “Your God…is going to get you out of this.” If Darius has all this faith in God why did he issue his silly decree in the first place?” But, of course, he’s right. God is King of kings and he is King over the king of the beasts. The lions are under his authority and God controls them through the night. As I say, I don’t want to be too hard on Darius, but it’s not smart to place oneself or others in jeopardy through our own foolishness and then say, “God will take care of things.” I’m glad that the Lord is gracious to me in my silliness, but I don’t want to tempt the Lord either.
Take Away: It’s not smart to place oneself or others in jeopardy through our own foolishness and then say, “The Lord will take care of things.”