God Will Silence Your Fears To Strengthen Your Faith
I wrote this writing on 12/08/2017. We then experienced one of the most compromising hours of the church within a couple years. Don’t allow fear to drive you to compromise. Daniel shows us that Government doesn’t govern the life of one rooted in faith. God does. The only way to overthrow overreaching regulations is by standing firm in your faith. You convert evil governments not by bowing down to them but by your willingness to lose your life by only being willing to bow down and worship God and God alone.
Your faith in God will constantly be under attack not only from the devil but from those around you. Daniel 6:5-7 talks about how the administrators and princes Daniel worked with were plotting on how they could take Daniel out through his belief in God. They went to the king and said that he should put a law in place that punished anyone who prayed to anyone human or divine other than you. The Bible records them saying, “If anyone prayed to anyone else in the next thirty days besides you, they should be thrown into the lion’s den”.
As I was listening to “Mention of Your Name” by Brian and Jen Johnson, God spoke this phrase over me: “I will silence your fears in order to strengthen your faith.” I sat and thought about it for a quick second, and I realize it really didn’t make much sense to me.
My brain thought, “If you silence my fears, then of course my faith is strengthened. You’ve taken away my fear!” So, I asked, “Well, God, what does that really mean?”
He said, “What have you been talking about the past couple of days?”
When God asked me, “What have you been talking about the past few days?” I immediately thought about Daniel. He then said, “What was my response to Daniel being thrown into the den?”
I said, “You shut the mouths of the lions.”
God said, “There you go. Shutting the mouths of the lions silenced the lions. I didn’t make the lions disappear, and I didn’t give any light to Daniel in the den. So, Daniel had to stay in the den surrounded by lions in the dark. He had to rest surrounded by his fear in literally the darkest time of his life and trust that I would not only keep him safe but also rescue him from this situation. Prayer got Daniel thrown into that mess and prayer was going to deliver him.”
Daniel’s custom was to pray three times a day with his window wide open. When the king issued the decree, I’m sure everyone around him would have told him to compromise just a little bit on how he prayed, or just not to pray at all for thirty days. I can imagine them saying “If you want to still pray three times a day, just don’t open your window, or pray in a closet.” Daniel decided that he would stand firm on how he was called to pray and not compromise.
Daniel didn’t compromise, but it didn’t get him a promotion; it got him the den. Instead of becoming bitter about why he was there and giving up on prayer, he stayed faithful and continued to pray!
Have you found yourself in similar situation as Daniel? Most people haven’t been thrown in a den full of lions in 2017. Your den might be depression, debt, drug addiction, or a bad health diagnosis.
Many people have something that they fear might take them out. They’ve believed God to deliver them or change certain situations. Their belief in God has caused them to end up in the darkest hour of their life and yet they have one decision. Abandon what got them there or press in and allow God to strengthen their faith so that He can use their lives to be a testimony to others around them.
You’ve been asking for God to work a miracle. Are you willing to go as far as Daniel did to see that miracle happen, or will you close the window on your faith?
God told me that He has silenced my fears, which means they might still be surrounding me, but they won’t take me out. They won’t put one scratch on me! You can rest in this dark hour and believe that He will not only take care of you, but He will rescue you! How can God perform miracles if your life doesn’t present the opportunity for Him to do that?!
The most amazing part about all of this was how Daniel 6 ends. The King comes and checks on Daniel the next morning, and he finds that Daniel is still alive. The Bible says that not a scratch was found on him because he had trusted in God! After that, the king sent a message to the people of every race, nation, and language throughout the world. It’s one of my favorite messages in the Bible!
Daniel 6:26-27
“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. ‘For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end. He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions’” (NIV).
Kings make decrees like this only when they see the miraculous wonder of God. You shift culture around you when you keep the window wide open on your faith. You can’t compromise. You can’t give in. Trust God in your darkest hour. Trust that He will not only keep you safe, but He will also rescue you from your fears!