God Uses Broken People 

Sometimes it is not the situation before us, but how we respond. When we are faced with obstacles that seem insurmountable, how do we react?

I don’t want to go through stressful times, but when I find myself there, I do want to put my trust in God.

I can tell you how I want to react and who I want to act like, Daniel in the Bible. I want to worship God against all odds. I want to continue to worship God when faced with impossible obstacles. God uses broken people. I want God to use me as a vessel for his good purposes. I want my difficulties to bring others to faith in God.  

Lets face it, we have people that don’t want to see us succeed. They seem to wait in the shadows trying to make us fail or find ways to set us up for failure.

In the Bible, the governors, advisors and counselors to the king had a plot against Daniel. They wanted to take him down, so they had the king sign a decree that nobody was allowed to worship any god for 30 days, they had to worship the king, or be thrown in a den with lions. 

The king liked Daniel, so he didn’t realize this was a plot to get rid of Daniel. He soon found out, when the same group of men came back and tattled on Daniel for worshipping the One True God. The king realized what had happened. He had to follow-up on his decree. He brought Daniel to the den of lions and said that the God he worshipped would deliver him. The king left Daniel in the lions den. The king was troubled and couldn’t sleep. In the morning,  he returned to the lions den to check on Daniel. 

Daniel was alive. God sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions, because God found Daniel innocent. “So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.” Daniel: 7:23

“And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.” Daniel 7:24

As a conclusion, King Darius honored God as the One True God, and Daniel prospered during his reign. 

The Plot Against Daniel

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

Daniel Saved from the Lions

Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 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.”

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.

Darius Honors God

And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

Then King Darius wrote:

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:

Peace be multiplied to you.

I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

—Daniel 6:6-28

Questions to ponder

• Do you worship God through challenges?
• Do you give your worries to God whole heartedly, knowing God will take care of you? 
• When God brings you through troubles, do you praise God first with thanks?
• If God can send an angel to shut the mouths of lions, what can He do for us?
• Are you willing to be a vessel for God, so others can find Him and worship Him? 

Sing Your Praises