Against the Flow: Holiness in a Hostile WorldSample

Day 12: Shining God’s Glory in a Dark World

During the Holocaust, Corrie ten Boom and her family provided a secret hiding place for Jews when the Nazis were furiously persecuting them. As Christians, they saw the assault on Jews as an injustice to fellow man made in the image of God. She was subsequently arrested and sent to a concentration camp and even then continued to share her faith and provide comfort to fellow prisoners. Amid a dark period of humanity, Corrie’s life shined brightly for God.

In today’s passage, we also see how God turned a precarious situation around for His glory. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den but miraculously emerged unharmed with God’s divine protection. God demonstrated His ability to save His people even in the most dire of circumstances. But just as God saves, He also judges. While Daniel survived the night with the hungry lions, his perpetrators were destroyed.

The story began with a decree that prayers could only be directed to King Darius but ends with a second decree. This time, the decree promoted Daniel’s God throughout the vast Medo-Persian empire as the living God whose “kingdom will never be destroyed and his dominion shall be to the end” (v26). The Lord manifested His reality and power in a pagan nation that sought to oppress His people. In the end, His name was glorified, as it should be.

What can truly cause the world to experience God’s light in this dark world? It is not our loud complaints, our attempts to persuade others to live according to our standards of morality or our efforts to sway legislature in certain matters. In fact, our willingness to risk our reputation, security and even our lives, is what will cause others to truly pay attention to the Gospel we proclaim. Daniel was willing to stake his very life to proclaim his loyalty to God. What about you? What price are you willing to pay to live as one set apart for God?

As we end our journey through the first six chapters of the book of Daniel, the encouragement we can draw is this: remain faithful and God will take care of you. We have seen how God proved to be sovereign across the rise and fall of empires. He is the God who fights for us. His protection over the faithful remnant shows us that we can always look to Him even as we live as strangers and foreigners in this hostile world.

Prayer points:

• Pray that when the time comes, you will be willing to pay the price for your loyalty to God. Ask the Lord for boldness and conviction to live as one set apart for Him.
• Pray that God will empower you to shine for Him in the spheres of influence He has placed you in. Seek the Lord for wisdom on how you can do so and who you can impact.