When Things are Bad

We were enjoying a lovely breakfast with our guests this past weekend when all at once we heard a fire alarm go off upstairs. Ben flew upstairs, with me following with a fire extinguisher.  It was a tad smoky and smelled bad, but we couldn’t find a fire. Thankfully, Ben figured out it was a faulty part on the ceiling fan. Not bad at all. Could have been worse.

I had a brief flashback to when I was a child, watching a house down the road from us burn down in flames. That image never left me. The smell of smoke. The fiery billow of flames. The fire trucks. As a small kid, I couldn’t quite fathom the enormity of it, but I knew it was bad.

It seems like in the last few years, there’s been a lot of “bad” to go around in our world. And you know, it hits personally too. How can we not ALL be affected by the atrocities of the war in Ukraine? How can we not believe that COVID has affected every one of us?

When we know things are bad, what do we do? How do we handle the “bad” in life?

Daniel and the lions’ den was a beyond bad circumstance. Who would want to get locked up in a lions’ den? Daniel had earned quite a distinguished place among the administrators and satraps because of his exceptional qualities. So, they looked long and hard to find something to charge him with. They found nothing because he was so trustworthy! So, the administrators and satraps got together and went to King Darius and agreed that the king should issue an edict that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next 30 days, (except the king) would be thrown into a lion’s den.

Finally, they figured out how to trap Daniel! They knew Daniel, a man of God, would not stop praying!

You know what? Daniel did not stop praying! “He went home to his upstairs room, where the windows were open 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.” (Daniel 6:10)

So, they got him! They showed up at his home and caught him praying and asking God for help! Seeing no other option, the King had to punish Daniel. He was thrown into a lion’s den. A big stone was sealed at the mouth of the cave. How could anything about this be good?

And then came the morning! King Darius called out to Daniel “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?  Instead of hearing the lions roar, he heard Daniel’s voice. “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouth of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O Lord.” (Daniel 6: 21-22)

From an earthly perspective, Daniel’s situation seemed beyond hopeless. Yet, after an entire night in the lions’ den, Daniel came out, unharmed!

No matter how dire your situation (or the situation in Ukraine) looks, there is NO situation that God cannot change. God is still our deliverer and rescuer today, just like He was with Daniel. Will you trust that the living God is in the den with you? 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.