Daniel Couldn't Have Willed the Lions to Eat Him - Warrior Mom Wisdom - Week of March 8
DANIEL COULDN’T HAVE WILLED THE LIONS TO EAT HIM
Have you ever felt like, “I actually hope I don’t make it; I hope I fail; I hope get fired, I hope I die; I’m too tired.”
This may sound rash to you, but for those of you who are reading this and who have felt this way, I am speaking to you. I have been at places in my life where I have begged God to take me home. I have thought, “This is too hard! I just want to go home.” Recently, I was thinking, (not that I actually want God to take me home prematurely), but I was thinking, “Lord, am I going to fail at this?” You see, I’ve experienced times where I had an amazing amount of faith, and I firmly believed that God would perform a miracle on my behalf – and He didn’t.
I have learned that these may have felt like moments of “failure” to me, but they are “moments of faith-filled turning points” from God to me; they are moments bigger than I can comprehend in the moment. God always makes them clear at some point. Nonetheless, in the moment they are painfully hard. So, during a moment of asking God “Am I going to fail by man’s standards? Because I am so worn out and have nothing left. I’ll be so upset but simultaneously relieved if I get taken out of the race at this point.” To which God replied, “Not even Daniel could have willed the lions to eat him if he wanted to.”
At first, I thought, “But He’s Daniel! He’s amazing! Didn’t he just want to be rescued?! Wasn’t he terrified?” God impressed upon me that Daniel was terrified and he too just wanted to go home. He was tired. He had been taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar when he was very young. He became educated in all the King’s matters, and He served the King as a prophet “a wise man.” But Daniel missed his home, his family, and there were many times that he too just wanted God to take him “home.” So even if Daniel did think (before they threw him into the lion’s den) “Well, it looks like I’m going home after all… and I hope I go quick. I’m tired” it wouldn’t be possible to go against the will of God and be eaten – to quit – to erase himself from the equation.
God had a bigger plan, and He planned on using Daniel to do it. The King believed in the one and only true God, after Daniel survived the lion’s den. Daniel had to survive. I was encouraged after God impressed this upon me. I felt relieved too. For in a situation where I had nothing left, in a situation in which I kind of hoped I would fail because I was literally too exhausted mentally, physically, and spiritually to go on – God said, “Even if you want the lions to eat you and enable you to come home to Me (or quit during this testimony-making moment) – it’s not your time. You will live. You will survive. You will testify on My behalf. Expect My grace to be sufficient, and know this: you will survive!”
I almost felt like it was a warning to get ready for something much “worse” and much “bigger” than I could comprehend in this moment. I felt like I had a new amount of Christ in me. I felt like the Holy Spirit would walk it out through me – in me - He would do it within this weak and tired earthly body of mine. As a result of God speaking to me in this way, I felt like I could walk through a land-mine field and survive. And it was a good thing because I was surrounded by them!
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:19
Warrior Moms Unite!®
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina's Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her recently founded Share & Company Publishing House http://seymourkristina.wix.
