Don't Face Your Fears Alone - God is with you!

SETTING UP THE STORY

S T O R Y T E L L E R : “Hi, everyone! We’ve been following along with God’s Big Story from the very beginning—all through the part of the Bible that we call ‘the Old Testament.’ (Hold up Bible.)

“We’ve seen how God promised to bless the whole world through Abraham’s family, the Israelites. We’ve seen how God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and led them to freedom in the land of Canaan.

“Over the years, God gave the Israelites kings to lead them. We talked about one of those kings last week—King David. David wasn’t king at the point when he won the battle against Goliath. But eventually, he did become king over God’s people. David was one of the kings who listened to God; but unfortunately, many of the Israelite kings ignored God completely. Some of them even led people to worship false gods. Not good!

“Eventually, things were so bad that God allowed the Israelites to be conquered by other nations. Some of the Israelites were even taken into captivity to a place called Babylon. That’s where we’ll pick up the story today, with one of those people who was held captive: a man by the name of Daniel.”

Daniel was one of the Israelites who had been brought to the land of Babylon. Daniel truly loved God. He prayed to God three times every day.”

DANIEL PROMOTED

Daniel DID pray to God. He followed God, even though he was living in a faraway land. In fact, Daniel was one of the young men who the king of Babylon chose to serve in his court. But Daniel chose not to eat the food of the Babylonians because it went against what was in God’s law.”

“God made Daniel strong and wise and gave him great success. Daniel went on to serve as an adviser to several kings over his lifetime.

“Eventually, a king named Darius took charge. King Darius decided to put three governors in place. These governors would be in charge of 120 officials, who would be in charge over the whole kingdom. So yeah, it was a big job to be a governor.

Can you guess who King Darius chose to be one of the three governors?

Right. Daniel! And that’s not all. King Darius was so impressed with Daniel that he planned to put him in charge over the OTHER two governors.” As you can imagine, the other two governors were jealous that Daniel was now about to be in charge over them. They tried to find something Daniel had done wrong so they could tell the king about it. But they couldn’t find anything! Daniel was always trustworthy and always did things the right way.

“These men figured the only way they could get Daniel in trouble was if they could find something he did because of his belief in God—something that went against the laws of the king.

“The men said to themselves . . .

Daniel 6:5 ESV

Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

These jealous governors knew that Daniel prayed to God three times a day.

Since Daniel was a praying man, the governors figured they’d ask the king to make an order that all the people had to obey: for the next 30 days, no one could pray to anyone but the king. If they prayed to someone else, they’d be thrown into a den of hungry lions!

But Daniel was in serious danger! King Darius wrote the order, which meant that it couldn’t be changed—even by the king himself.

“Daniel heard about the king’s new law, but he trusted God.

He knew that God was with him, and that’s what gave him courage. Daniel did what he had always done before. He went to his upstairs room, and three times a day, he took time to pray to God.

Daniel 6:10 ESV

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

“The two jealous governors could see that Daniel had broken the king’s law. They told the king what they had seen and reminded the king that Daniel had to be thrown into the lions’ den. King Darius was upset because he didn’t want Daniel to be hurt. But he felt like he had no choice. He had to follow the law.”

IN THE LIONS’ DEN

“As Daniel was about to be thrown in with the lions, King Darius said to him

Daniel 6:16 (ESV)

The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”

“A stone was placed over the opening of the den, and Daniel was stuck inside with those hungry lions . . . all night long!

“King Darius was worried sick about Daniel. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep!

“At sunrise the next morning, King Darius hurried back to the lions’ den. He called out . . .

Daniel 6:20–22 NLT

When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”

“Amazing! Daniel was safe, because God had protected him from the lions.

“I love it! King Darius had Daniel lifted out of the den, and everyone could see that he was unharmed. The king was so amazed at what had happened that he wrote a letter to everyone in the kingdom. He ordered that everyone should respect and honor Daniel’s God.

Daniel 6:26–27 NLT

“I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Daniel’s faithfulness to God became a testimony for God that even a godless man could see.

“Daniel continued to serve King Darius. And because of Daniel’s courage, everyone in the kingdom heard about the One True God!

“Daniel was able to stand—even when the other officials were out to get him—because he knew for sure that God was with him.

“There will be times in our lives when we have to decide if we’ll be brave enough to do the right thing. In those moments, let’s remember that we’re never really alone. God is always, ALWAYS with us.

SLIDE: BOTTOM LINE

“You can do what you should because God is with you.

“Let’s pray and thank God for always being there.”

S T O R Y T E L L E R : “God, it’s amazing to hear how You protected Daniel in the lions’ den. You gave him the courage to stand up when those jealous officials were out to get him! It’s so good to know that You’re with us, too, just like You were with Daniel. Sometimes we might feel too scared to do what’s right. We might feel like we’re facing those tough things all alone. In those times, please remind us that You are there to help us. Thank You for being there to give us the courage and strength we need. We love You, and we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.”