October 3

Written by Bill Grandi on October 3rd, 2022

The relaxing weekend is over.  Not having an agenda was nice. We had a leisurely Friday (which is normally my day off); on Saturday we attended a football game at noon and a baseball game in the late afternoon some of our youth were involved in; and Sunday attended church with Ryan and Amanda, our longtime friends.  Afterwards we ate wings (except Jo…she had a burger), then headed home for a relaxing evening. In between all this mayhem I worked on a 1000 piece puzzle I am getting close to finishing.

But its back to the old grind…I mean…agenda/schedule.

Have you noticed how some stories in the Bible never get old? As a child raised in the church, I heard all the stories-David and Goliath, the 3 dudes in the furnace, the angel appearing to Mary, and others.

One of my favorites (besides Jesus) was Daniel and the lion’s den. Still is. David slinging a stone is a cool story. The 3 dudes (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego) in the furnace-which actually turned out to be 4 in the furnace-is a wonderful story. But lions-hungry lions-with jaws which could snap a person in half clamped shut all night by angels? WOW! I can see several teaching points in that story. I’ll just settle for one.

The biggest is the lions leaving Daniel alone.  That was totally against their nature. But we don’t read of Daniel worrying about what was going to happen to him. He didn’t stay awake fretting and worrying about how it was going to hurt and maybe it will be quick.  If Daniel stayed awake, it was because he was praying. Not out of worry, but that God would be glorified and Darius’ eyes would be opened (least that is what I think). Read Daniel 6: 25-27 and you can see there is not only validity in what I just wrote, but it also happened.  I’m going to say that Daniel slept like a baby and those lions were like stuffed animals.

We can learn from this story. Daniel’s eyes were not on the den, the lions, or how wrong and unfair it was that he was there. His eyes and his faith were firmly saying, “I trust you” to his God.

Is that a lesson you can learn? I know I can.

 

6 Comments so far ↓

  1. Oh, to be like Daniel! He obviously gained mastery over his thoughts! May this be me, LORD!!!!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      I would like to be able to have that same mastery as well Diane, although I can if I remember to turn it all over to Him. Now that?????

      • Ryan S says:

        Sometimes we focus so much on the problem, we fail to lookup and see the solution. Not the case for Daniel. Worrying about the problem only takes away our focus, our faith, and hope. I much rather focus on the positive these days.

        • Bill Grandi says:

          I would most definitely agree Ryan. Problems loom larger than they should and sadly, we actually help that along by focusing on it rather than the ONE who can change it all.

  2. Daniel teaches us a most powerful message, indeed, Bill. Too often, though, caught up in the moment, we forget who we must trust with everything we are and everything we have. Love that story!
    Glad you had a relaxing weekend, too!
    Blessings!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      There are so many powerful messages in the whole book but this is the best. You are right too Martha, we do forget who to trust.