With Daniel in the Den

Gray days are my nemesis. A gloomy day, not to mention a week of them strung together like burned-out Christmas lights, throws me into a pit of depression.

Is God able to lift me out of this gloomy funk that clings to me like a bad smell? I know God can do anything—but is He willing to lift my spirits, change my mood from negative to positive, give me a new spring in my step and hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel?

Daniel 6 tells how King Darius was duped into sentencing Daniel, a godly man, to certain death in the lion’s den. Did Darius feel despair when he realized his mistake? Did Daniel feel hopeless after he was shoved into the dark and smelly den, seeing the hungry eyes of lions, close enough to feel their hot breath on his face. Darius had every reason to think his mistake was un-fixable; Daniel must have doubted that he would ever see the sun again—much better reasons than I have on this dreary day when life seems overwhelming.

I cry out with King Darius as he prays in Daniel 6:17, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” I drape these words over my weary body knowing that I also need to be rescued from my den of self-pity. Ferocious lions of envy, depression, and life-weariness lurk to gobble up my peace and rob me of joy. I pray with Daniel for a miracle of deliverance.

The King didn’t sleep the night Daniel slept with the lions. In the early morning, he hurried to the den (Daniel 6:19) and called out in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living god, has your god, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Daniel answered, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me….” Daniel 6:22.

Today may seem like a bad day but I choose to stand with Darius, praying that God will turn wrong to right, fix my mistakes and let me start again. I stand with Daniel, trust that angels are on their way, maybe already working to bring sunshine back into my life and close the mouths of every hungry lion.