Bible
Study: Daniel 6, 12 to 28. And Luke 21, 20
to 28.
Yesterday,
we read of how the reign of King Belshazzar came to an end for his ominous sin
of sacrilege. If you recall, Daniel actually interpreted the handwriting on the
wall saying that his kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and
Persians that was exactly what took place. Now a new king reigned over the
kingdom of Babylon, King Darius of the Medes and Persians and just like other
kings, he too had come to develop a close friendship with Daniel for his
resourcefulness and administrative skills.
But there
was a problem. Not an unfamiliar one though. It is a type of problem that we notice
everywhere even in our own day and time. It is called P. H. D. meaning PULL HIM
DOWN syndrome. Whenever a person seems to be doing well and winning favours in
the sight of the people, he or she immediately has enemies who feel threatened by
such progress and start plotting out ways to destroy him or her. In the case of
Daniel, his adversaries thought out a plan carefully. They examined Daniel’s
life carefully and since they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, they
decided to create something wrong with him; that is, they went to the king and
pressured him to issue a new law that would forbid anyone from praying to God
other than to the king himself.
What a
fine plan they had. Even though the king had come to love Daniel, little did he
know that this new law was an indirect plan to destroy Daniel! Perhaps he felt
that it would make him more popular and revered as king. When a society deviates
from the path of truth and justice and begins to pass into law just about
anything law-makers feel like, such a society is set for self-destruction. There
are just laws as well as unjust laws and it is not every law of the land that a
Christian is bound to obey. Yes, any law that contradicts the Law of God as
contained in the Bible is an evil law, any law that is contrary to conscience,
truth and righteousness should never be obeyed.
Closeness to
God brings about an increase in faith, a deepening of one’s confidence and a
certain fearlessness. That is what we see in Daniel. He had CONFIDENCE in God. He
knew the king had just issued a decree and he knew the implication of that
decree but he decided to not only increase his prayer and devotions to God, he
even went as far as opening the windows of his upper chamber so that people
would actually see him disobeying the king’s command. Dear friends, what is
your level of confidence in God? Is your fear of people greater than your
respect for God?
Daniel’s
disobedience came as an offshoot of his disposition for martyrdom. He did not
mind losing his very life for what he believed. He must have been really
detached from his wealth, position and power, he must have had very little love
for his very life that he was ready to let go of everything for the sake of his
faith in God. That which you fear most is that which you are most attached to. That
which you fear most is that which you are most attached to. If you let you of
your attachments, you will instantly be relieved of your fears as well. For instance,
if you are most afraid of losing your job, then it means you are most attached
to that job, you have come to define your life by that job and you feel that
without that job, you are nothing. As such, if your job is leading you to sin
even on a daily basis, you keep pacifying your conscience and explaining away
your actions.
Fear can
really act as an obstacle in one’s spiritual progress and the best way to deal
with fear is detachment. What is detachment? A resignation to death, a constant
self-reminder that nothing in this world is really worth it, a firm resolution
that naked you came into this world and naked you must surely return. When
Jesus Christ spoke of the events of the end time, he said: "And there will
be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in
perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and
with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens
will be shaken…. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise
your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21, 25 to 28. In
another passage, he said: “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Luke 17, verse 33.
Daniel did
not seek to preserve his very life otherwise he would have either stopped
praying to God or he would have gone into hiding. Eventually his adversaries
pressured the king to throw him into the Lion’s den. There are times in our
lives we actually get thrown into the Lion’s den for doing good. All we see are
lions around us yet we are unable to realise that our faith is being tested. We
soon start complaining excessively or we even quarrel with God for allowing
evil people succeed but if only we can see that the lions are not meant for us
but for our enemies, if only we can wait patiently, if only we can develop a
thick resistance within our spirit and remain cheerful no matter what, we would
not have any reason to question God.
The same
God that did not prevent Daniel from being thrown into Lion’s Den was the same
God that shut the mouth of the Lions from making a meal of him. Dear friends,
no matter what you may be going through, just know that the worst has not
happened yet. As long as your hands are clean and your ways are pure, don’t look
back, don’t be discouraged by the seemingly success of evil people. Their success
is only a show, it doesn’t last long. The next morning, the men who thought
they had finished Daniel became bread and tea for the hungry lions. Yes, evil
people may thrive, they may even go as far as taking your very life but stand
firm, look up and raise your heads; you will surely have the last laugh. It may
be right here on earth but better for you if it is in the next life.
In the end,
it is important to also place ourselves in the shoes of the so-called enemies
in this story. This would enable us ask ourselves come hard questions: Have you
ever tried to do harm to somebody? Have you ever felt insulted or seriously offended
by the action of someone that you had to sit up all night planning what you are
going to do to that person? Have you ever discussed the downfall of a fellow
human being or sort our ways of carrying out a revenge? Well, if we all must be
honest with ourselves, we would agree that in several ways we too have been
enemies to some persons somehow in the past and when we would have simply
FORGIVEN, we have instead brought ourselves into various Lions’ dens in the
past.
If today
you hear God’s words, harden not your heart!
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, deepen my confidence in you every day, teach me to be detached from
everything and even from my very life itself, show me how to forgive and let go
and not create enemies for myself. Amen.
St. James
Alberione, pray for us.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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