How to Face a Monster

Daniel 6:16-28

16Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!" 17A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

19Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. 20When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?" 21Daniel then said to the king, "O king, live forever! 22My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong." 23Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions - they, their dren, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

25Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: "May you have abundant prosperity! 26I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. 27He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions." 28So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

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Wow. I've seen lions at the zoo. They are separated from the spectators by a high fence and a deep ditch filled with water. Imagine being dropped down into the lion's cage ... and the lions haven't eaten for a few days ... and ... you get the picture. We aren't likely to get eaten by lions (as did some early Christians in Rome's Colisseum) but we do face our own monsters such as addictions (TV, Web, alcohol, prescription drugs, sex, etc.). When we find the courage to face them down we may find such monsters lose their bite. Until then, we run away in the terror of denial, busyness, or mindless that is called "culture" in the grand ole USA. Here's a man who faced his monster -->