Choose Your Crisis

Most crises come on us unexpectedly, unsought, and unwelcome, most of which we can’t avoid. Certainly, unless one is something of a masochist, he would avoid every crisis he could, but there are times one walks into a crisis deliberately as an act of obedience to the Father’s leadership. There is inevitably a crisis that accompanies every act of obedience. The problem lies with choosing which crisis one will subject himself to if he has such a choice.

In the case of Daniel, he chose his crisis. As a slave in Babylon, his whole existence was a composite perils, risks, and crises. Adding to the very fact of his slavery to a heathen king in an ungodly country was the issue of his faithfulness to God. As he successfully faced the other issues of his enslavement and rose in favor with the king, there was a time that he was required to put his entire wellbeing on the line if he was to stay true to the Living God. The struggles Daniel faced in his greatest crisis are very instructional to us:

1. God gives His anointed people favor with those in power. This is evidenced as follows, “Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm” (Daniel 6:3).

2. A person’s character determines who his enemies are. “So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him” (Daniel 6:4).

3. The ungodly will inevitably be offended by the success of the godly and will often seek to use his faith against him. “Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God’” (Daniel 6:5).

4. One must choose his crisis properly for greatest effect. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing (the law prohibiting the worship of any but the king) was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God” (Daniel 6:10-11).

5. Faith always causes one to put something about himself at risk, sometimes gravely so. “So they answered and said before the king, ‘That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, ‘Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.’ So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, ‘Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you’” (Daniel 6:13-16).

6. In spite of all outward appearances the world waits anxiously to see how we will react to our crises and what our God will do. “And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?’ Then Daniel said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you’”(Daniel 6:20-22).

7. God will honor Himself and prosper the faithfulness of those who face the crises of life through obedient faith. The king exemplified this by declaring: “I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Daniel 6:26-28).

Certainly one would not want to foolishly enter into threatening situations; however, there are times that our stand for our faith will require us to put everything on the line for God. This is the time that the character and quality of our faith is tested the most. In such times, obedience to the revealed will of God must be adhered to regardless of the gainsayers and the naysayer. Such stands are not easy but build sturdiness of the faith in those who persevere.

We must remember in such times, our God is able to deliver us!

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061