What is the direct opposite of fear? Some would say it's confidence in one's self. I would say it's trust - complete trust in our God. From the faith we have in our God comes self-confidence and God-assurance.
Here's a quick summary to refresh the story: Daniel had been taken to Babylon when Jerusalem fell as Jeremiah prophesied. God had favor on Daniel and three of his friends, who "feared," or had great reverence for God. God moved Danny and his buddies up through the throngs of Babylonian officers, and Daniel became one of the greatest advisers in the kingdom because God gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams. God gave Danny great favor with the king of the time, Darius. Now all the Babylonian advisers were jealous of Daniel's position and rise to power, and since he prayed three times a day to God, they hatched up a plan to make praying to any god but the king Darius illegal. The penalty for not observing that law was death in a lion's den.
Once the king had agreed to the law it was a simple matter of catching Daniel in the act of praying to God - because you don't just stop praying to God when the world tries to stop you. In ordinance with his law, Darius had to - though he didn't want to - throw Daniel in the lion's den. Darius was very upset, and as they threw Danny into the den he said "May the God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"
Did God rescue Daniel?
Yes, yes He did. He sent angels to close the mouths of the lions. Darius came to check on Daniel, and when he found out that Daniel had survived a whole night in the den he immediately had Danny pulled out and threw the conspirators in!
Lions were considered the most ferocious beast of the time, and for good reason. God made lions killing machines - huge teeth, retractable claws, pure muscle! In the Psalms (and even nowadays) the Lion of Judah is one of the symbols of God. CS Lewis used Aslan, a lion, to allegorically represent God. A lion is a fierce beast.
Standing a good 4 feet tall and an even 8 feet long not including the tail, (that's 120 cm and 230 cm to keep things in perspective) lions are the second largest cat in the world, and at one point in time were as widespread across the world as humans (Wikipedia). Granted, that's apparently 10,000 years ago, when there were a lot fewer humans. So it's not like there were 2 billion lions running around. Anyhow. Try to use your best power of imagination and drop yourself into a dark cave where there are several lions. It is pitch black and you can't see anything except for maybe a crack of light from the opening of the den. The smell of rotting bones and manure fills your nose, and a cold draft blows past your back. It's hot in here though, from all of the bodies of hungry lions. Everything you know about lions is that they're hungry and you're fresh meat. You can't see them, you know they're there and you can just barely hear a few velvety paws padding around you.
The lions probably wouldn't have to kill me, I'd have a heart attack just trying to calm myself down, I'd be so absolutely petrified!
If Daniel can find confidence in God in that, then how can we rationalize our fears? God will provide a way out. We've just got to remember that God is good all the time, and He never gives us more than we can take. Lesson of the day: trust God. And the hard part is that trust is a choice...
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