Those living in California are familiar with the damage that raging wildfires can cause. Those living in Florida have experienced the path of destruction a hurricane can leave in its wake. In other parts of the country, flooding can leave entire communities in ruin. Knowing the potential damage that such disasters can bring is exactly why residents are encouraged to prepare by taking every precaution they can to protect themselves and their property.
But the time to prepare is not during the disaster. A homeowner cutting back the brush around his house and hosing everything down while the wildfire is surrounding him has waited too long. The resident trying to board up his windows as the rain is pelting and the wind is hurling objects all around him has waited too long. Filling up and laying down sandbags as the floodwaters have already begun seeping into the home is a waste of time. No, if a person wants a chance at being able to handle disasters, the best time to prepare and be ready is before it arrives!
That explains why the edict King Darius decreed didn’t derail Daniel after it had been given: he was prepared. There was no emotional tug-of-war internally over the correct course of action for Daniel, no wondering what he should do or how he should handle it. Should he just play it cool for the thirty days of the decree and not be so overt with his faith? Should he pay external lip service to Darius, while internally retaining his faith in God? If he backed down in any way, though, what would that communicate to others about his faith and his God? Would that be tantamount to a denial of his faith?
Daniel’s decision had already been made; he was prepared because his practice had already been established. “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before” (v.10). The decree was announced, and Daniel… did nothing different. He prayed three times a day, “just as he had done before.”
And it most certainly wasn’t only his practice of praying three times a day that stood out, but his believing lifestyle altogether that was evident to others. It was surely Daniel’s practice of his faith that prompted his envious enemies to craft the specific prohibition against practicing other faiths – they knew such a decree would be a slam dunk against Daniel.
His devout life was even evident to the king, who twice – right before sealing Daniel in the den and then again the next morning – referred to the God Daniel served “continually” (cf vss. 16, 20). This was just typical Daniel, standing out in a heathen culture because he didn’t hide his faith at all. His devotion to God and worship of God was not an occasional observance that others witnessed once in awhile, but the norm. Daniel was ready for any storm in life, because his steadfast practice of faith prepared him for anything.
During this time in-between, as we conduct our lives between the two comings of Christ – his birth and his return on the last day – can we not only see the importance of being prepared, but also make real changes in our lives to put it into practice? Are there ways, like Daniel, that we can be more grounded in God in the day-to-day, so that when the next bomb drops – literally or metaphorically – we’re actually ready, and not scrambling for dear life as if we don’t have a clue what to do or where to turn?
Most reading this would likely agree that more time in prayer and in the Word of God would be a tremendous blessing in our lives. So why is it that we wait to turn to those things until the wildfires, the hurricanes, and the floods of life start wailing on us? Why are we spiritually trying to board up our windows as Satan starts swinging instead of preparing beforehand? Let’s use this time in-between to prepare, to bolster up our faith so that we are immovable, steadfast, rock-solid in Christ when things turn south.
On Reformation, we recognize and appreciate the “Daniels” God has provided for us throughout history to remind us of the importance of steadfast faith. Martin Luther was one such individual. Once the the Holy Spirit unlocked for him the precious truths of Scripture so that he understood and embraced that his salvation was by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus alone, revealed through Scripture alone, there was no turning back. The good news became clear to him: righteousness wasn’t a matter of required obedience that could be earned, but rather a free gift that could only be given through faith in the perfect life of Jesus.
Once Luther came to know and believe these theological truths, his life would be a reflection of them until his dying day. He taught and preached. He wrote and instructed. He debated and defended. He was steadfast, so that when the heavy hand of the Roman Catholic Church dropped on him, he wasn’t about to back down. Steadfast faith stood strong in the face of severe opposition from some of the most powerful authorities on earth.
Now is the time for steadfast faith. But let’s be more specific so that we understand why so many blessings are attached to that kind of faith. A steadfast faith is only as good as its object. In other words, what really determines the outcome is not just how strong and steady a faith is, but to what, or whom, that faith is directed. In whom is it placed?
A cancer patient might have all the confidence in the world that using a special shampoo will cure his cancer. Someone might be 100% convinced that playing the Lottery using the numbers of her family’s birthday months will ensure that she wins. I could make sure that I have my lucky socks on so that my job interview guarantees I get the job. But you also better be prepared to be let down by that shampoo, those numbers, and the socks. They have zero ability to reward your confidence, your faith in them.
Did you notice how wishy-washy the king’s faith was in Daniel’s case? How ironic that he would authorize a decree that for thirty days no one could pray to or worship any other god or man other than him, only to turn around and appeal to Daniel’s God to deliver him from the lions! He wanted to cover all his bases, demanding that he alone is worshipped, while allowing for the possibility that if there is by chance another god out there – like Daniel’s, for example – that he could be acknowledged as well.
That’s not at all an uncommon approach many have to religion and spirituality today, is it? “All religions are basically the same; just change up some of the names and places and a few of the teachings. As long as you have a strong faith in your god, I can have a strong faith in mine, and so can they, and we can all leave well enough alone.” It’s no different than shampoo, lottery numbers, or socks – they’re powerless to do anything, no matter how much you might believe it.
But finally, only one God saves – Daniel’s God delivered him. That same God – and only that God – delivers all who trust in him, including those who recently joined our church family. Our instruction didn’t consist of a study of world religions so that they could be familiar with everything under the sun that is taught about any given deity or path to spiritual enlightenment and then pick and choose as needed throughout the rest of their lives, depending on the situation.
No, they learned more about the only true God from the only reliable source in which he has chosen to reveal himself: the Bible. There alone can we find a God who is radically unlike any other god portrayed in other religions. There we find a God who gave himself up, a God determined to make the necessary sacrifice for your salvation. In the Bible we find a God more interested in serving than being served. We see a God who longs for us to rest in and rely on his work on our behalf, rather than trying to run ourselves ragged pretending we could please him or earn his affection with our goodness, as Martin Luther wrongly believed before discovering the good news about Jesus having done it all for him.
Only a steadfast faith in the Jesus who came to save will not be disappointed. He always delivers – even if not in the manner by which he delivered Daniel – from death. He may deliver that way, or he may allow sickness or injury into our lives and then deliver us through those things. Or, finally, he may use those same trials to deliver us home to heaven. But the true God – Jesus – always delivers. Always. So a steadfast faith in him is not misplaced.
So let’s board up the windows now, let’s fill up the sandbags and clear the brush away from the property, so that when disaster strikes in our lives – which has a 100% chance of taking place at some point – we’re ready. Let’s reinforce our faith to be so steadfast that nothing can shake it. How?
Those joining a local church family are taking an important step in that direction. They are committing to the support, encouragement, and growth that they will both receive and help provide in a congregation. And as we collectively grow closer to Jesus and his life and work becomes more intricately woven into ours, faith is fortified and multitudes of blessings emanate from that kind of faith. As we endure storms ourselves, our faith better prepares us, and our faith-filled friends and church family support and hold us up – and we do the same for others as we all grow together. That is what a steadfast faith looks like, and in a shaky, unsettled, tumultuous world, who doesn’t need that?
Now is the time, as we wait for Jesus to return, to invest more, not less, in our faith. Now is the time to strive for a steadfast faith that is already in place so that when the disasters come, you’re ready, and when Jesus returns, you’re ready. In this time in between, let us join the ranks of the Daniels and the Martin Luthers and let Jesus’ church be a place of refuge and strength, where God’s people strive for a steadfast faith that mirrors our Savior’s steadfast commitment to us.