As a little girl, I knew absolutely nothing about God. I wasn’t raised in church. Sadly when I was a toddler, my parents were hurt by church and simply never went back for 15 years. The only thing I knew about God were the pictures in our family Bible.

Did anyone else have a massive Bible with foil edges and full colored pictures somewhere in their home as a centerpiece decoration? It really wasn’t to be touched, but to look pretty on the table in the foyer. But I loved to sneak in and look at the pictures.

One of those pictures was of a man in a robe, surrounded by lions. The lions appeared to be tame and the man appeared to be quite calm and in complete control. I had no way of knowing why this man was surrounded by lions, perhaps he was some sort of circus performer.

It literally took me over 40 years to actually study the story in my own Bible to understand the scene … and understand maybe that’s not what the scene really looked like at all. Maybe the lions weren’t tame, maybe they were ferocious and pacing the floor for attack. And maybe the man in a robe wasn’t in charge at all. Maybe there was something unseen in the room achieving the impossible.

And what if, in the middle of your hardest times, there’s something unseen in the room with you too. Something holding back the threat, something shielding you with divine protection, something doing the absolute impossible for you … but you just can’t see it.

Today, consider maybe that’s precisely what is happening. God has sent his angels to stand guard over you during this. No, he didn’t magically eliminate the problem, but in the middle of the problem, he is protecting you from the dangers.

This is a story of Daniel. If you remember from an episode earlier this week, Daniel is a man of God with the gift of interpreting dreams and messages from God. He’s faithful in every way and earned a high position in the King’s house. A few Kings had come and gone during Daniel’s time, and now there was a new King, King Darius. This King loved and respected Daniel above everyone else and planed to place him over the entire empire.

That of course makes others very jealous. What do jealous people do? They cause problems.

Now Daniel didn’t have a single skeleton in his closet. He was faithful and good in every single thing he did, so his enemies could find absolutely no fault in him. So what did they do? They made something up!

Let’s pause right there … My sister, it doesn’t matter how much good you do, your enemy will find something or create something against you. Always. Don’t be shocked by it. And don’t play pitiful over it. Have you ever heard Mother Theresa’s poem called ‘Anyway’? These were the words inscribed on the walls of her children’s home in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

What a reminder … do it anyway. Be faithful anyway. Keep praying anyway. Keep loving anyway. This isn’t between you and anyone else – this was always between you and God. Keep it that way!

So, Daniel has a few enemies and the fact that they can find no reason to blame him for anything just makes them create a problem. These guys know Daniel is supremely loyal to his God. They know he prays on his knees 3 times every single day to his God without fail. And they know nothing will cause him to be unfaithful in his commitment to God.

So, they convince King Darius to make a law that for the next 30 days, any person who prays to anyone or anything other than him would be thrown into the den of lions. The King is a good man, but he likes the thought of everyone bowing to him and it strokes his ego a bit, so he makes the unchangable law. And of course, what happens next is exactly what Daniel’s enemies knew would happen … they found him praying anyway.

Daniel 6:10, “But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to God.”

Daniel didn’t allow threats to change his commitment to God. Nothing got in the way of his prayer and praises to his God.

I have to wonder if sometimes things get in the way of our prayer and praises to God. Does vacation get in the way? Does extra busy or stressful times get in the way? What gets in the way of your committed time with God? Step 1 is to have a committed time with God. When is that? Where is that? Now notice what comes in and crowds it out?

Nothing was crowding out Daniel’s commitment to God. He did what he had always done. That is being faithful!

And being faithful landed Daniel in trouble. Girl, why are you so surprised when trouble comes your way? We’re so quick to say, “Why me, God?” … really, why not you? I can’t think of a single justified answer as to why trouble should never touch my life.

Daniel ends up in a literal lion’s den. Verse 16-23:

“So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, ‘May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.'”

“A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep all that night.”

“Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 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 fond innocent in his sight. And I have not wrong you, Your Majesty.’

“The King was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.”

So, there was an angel with Daniel. Did you know that’s legit for real? We don’t know if Daniel actually saw the angel, but he knew that was the only possible thing that could have kept the lions from devouring him.

Hebrews 1:14 says “Angels are spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.”

My friend, you are being cared for in this! God has sent an angel to stand guard over you. Maybe you can see the threat, or maybe you can’t, but that angel is holding it back from you.

Was Daniel completely calm and in control in that lions’ den? We have no idea. What we do know is because he trusted in God on the absolute worst night of his life, not a single scratch was found on him. He walked out of that threat completely unharmed.

What we do know is Daniel prayed in that den. And here’s how we know that … not because scripture tells us anything about that night, but because we know praying is what Daniel ALWAYS DID. He didn’t wait until a really bad night to hit his knees, he had faithfully been hitting his knees three times a day for a long time.

Don’t wait until the lion is pacing the floor and preparing his attack – Girl, you pray NOW. Create and protect your faithful practice of praying.

Imagine Daniel in that lion’s den. What is the most vulnerable position he could possibly be in? Kneeling! With his back turned to the lion, head bowed and eyes closed, he was completely defenseless. But we know that was the most powerful thing he could do. There, in that position, there were angels stations around him sealing the lions’ mouths shut.

Imagine the scene – the one that wasn’t pictured in my family’s bible. Imagine angels wrestling those lions. Holding their mouths shut with their arms wrapped around them … or their wings … yes, their wings.

Trust in God is what will save you. A faithful practice or prayer and praise is what he’s looking for! When life gets busy or you go on vacation, or people start doing stupid stuff, or the enemy roars in your direction, you just do it anyway. This is between you and God.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com