In His Hands: Daniel 6:19-23

We can trust God to have our day-to-day activities in His hands as much as we can trust Him to have our eternal existence in His hands.  He is the God who created the world, and He certainly is the God who can sustain us forever.  Yet as big and powerful as God is, He still cares about our daily activities.  God has our whole life in His hands.

Having spent a sleepless night without diversion, Darius rose with the sun and ran to the den of lions.  Part of me wonders what he thought he would find.  The skeptic in me thinks he knew what to expect.  It’s like the women who rushed to the tomb of Jesus after the crucifixion.  They had to know what to expect.  Didn’t Darius expect to see Daniel torn limb from limb?

The skeptic, though, is completely wrong.  I think Darius expected to see Daniel torn because that’s what I would expect to see.  Logically, my brain knows if you throw an unprotected human into a den of lions – even if the lions aren’t hungry – they will protect their home and kill the person or they’ll simply get playful and kill the human.  I know what I’d expect; I therefore impose the same expectation on Darius.

It turns out Darius is a better man than me.  Darius calls out to Daniel.  Darius asks Daniel if God protected him.

My modern skeptical brain struggles to accept any outcome where Daniel survives.  I wouldn’t have run to the lion’s den.  I wouldn’t have called out for Daniel.  I would have told the guards to roll away the stone and looked for torn body parts strewn across the lion’s den.

Darius’ anticipation of God’s hand at work was rewarded.  He might not have trusted God for his own salvation, but Darius was still able to entrust God with Daniel’s salvation.  Darius heard Daniel’s reply.  He heard Daniel give God the credit for sending a heavenly messenger to protect him.

This story is all about trust.  Daniel’s life was spared because he trusted God.  Darius saw God protect Daniel because he trusted God.  Those who put their trust in God are not disappointed.

Earlier, I was intentionally hard on myself.  When I said I wouldn’t have rushed to the lion’s den, it was an honest confession.  I would have found it difficult to see any outcome other than Daniel’s death.  Even so, I still trust in God.  I know God has my life in His hands.  He has my eternal existence in His hands.  The plan God has for my life is in His hands.  At some level, all those who believe in God put their trust in Him.  The challenge is taking the broad concept of trust and applying it to the day-to-day events of life.  We can trust God to have our day-to-day activities in His hands as much as we can trust Him to have our eternal existence in His hands.