FAITH CAPSULE: Painful repositioning is not enough excuse to replace God in one’s life.

Daniel 6
 
Experiencing painful repositioning in life as a result of challenges beyond our control is not enough evidence to misplace our love/fear for God. Joseph was responding to his father’s command to go and look out for his brother in Shechem when he ended up in the pit of destruction and the avenue of slavery. He went further in his painful repositioning to become a prisoner in Egypt. Despite Joseph’s painful repositioning he did not despise God nor violate his God. Above all, it was in his painful repositioning that he walked into a gainful position. Joseph moved from prison to presiding over the land of Egypt.
Daniel was taken captive from his home land as a young man and it was not enough for Daniel to lose his standing with God. Daniel upheld his love for God even while in captivity. As a believer, situations arise, which we do not invite, and we can end up in places where we do not want to be. Ending up in the place we least expects is not enough for a believer to misplace his or her identity in the Lord. We must avoid misrepresentation of our faith. Daniel, a young man taken out of his comfort zone to be a captive in a foreign land, kept himself in the Lord. He was known for his faith because he stood up for what he believed. He stood up against the law of the land and would not be unfaithful to his God by being obedient to the law. A new law had been passed in order to incriminate Daniel for breaking the law of the land. However, Daniel would not hide from worshiping his God. Because he wouldn’t be unfaithful to his God, he was to face death in the lion’s den. The King, who gave the command, was not happy about his decision to put Daniel to death, but he had no way out as he could not defy his own law. The king prayed for Daniel, that the God whom Daniel served would deliver him from death. While in the den, the hungry lions went to sleep and would not touch Daniel because the Lord whom he was serving was in place for him. It was the King who got to the den first in the morning and found out about Daniel’s well-being. Daniel responded to the King: Daniel6:22, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” Daniel did right before God and before man, and that made it impossible for any beast under heaven to touch him. If you are not right with man, you cannot be right with God.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace to stand and not fall in the face of challenges.