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Daniel 6:19-23
Then the king got up at daybreak, at first light, and he went in haste to the lion pit. And when he came near to the pit, he cried out to Daniel with a distressed voice, and the king spoke and said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, your God whom you serve faithfully, was he able to rescue you from the lions?” Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and he shut the mouth of the lions and they did not hurt me, because before him I was found blameless, and also before you, O king, I have not done any wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad over it and commanded that Daniel be lifted up from the pit; and there was not any wound found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

What an amazing work God had done in Daniel’s life. Whenever we go back and see what happened we can gather so many insights from Daniel’s life. This is a simple narration, but the character of Daniel oozes out of these passages. Being addressed as “the servant of the living God”, serving God faithfully, blameless before God and before the king, without any wrongdoing, the one who trusted in God continually. We see similar attributes in the apostles, yet they suffered and most of them even died a horrible death.

Every Christian around the world face some level of persecution. We believe in the Truth, the one true God. To hold such a conviction can cost a lot in the world that we live in. Many times the pressure from the authorities above is such that we cave in and compromise our belief for the sake of acceptance or favour. But what are we to do?

First thing persecution is not a surprising thing in Christian life. Whereas it’s more of a part and parcel of it.

Matthew 5:10-12
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”

John 16:33
“I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.”

Second thing is that the persecution is the testing of our faith. James, the half-brother of Jesus says,

James 1:12
“Blessed is the person who endures testing, because when he is approved, he will receive the crown of life that he has promised to those who love him.”

No matter what the persecution is, let’s not back away from practicing our faith. Let’s not hold back on our convictions, but boldly declare them. When some one ask us, “So, what do you do?”, may our first thought to answer that question be – “I practice faith.” In our vocation, marriage, academics, relationships, let us practice our faith as Daniel did.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to not compromise on our convictions for the sake of fitting in, to escape conflict or to avoid being ridiculed. Instead, help us to stand firm and live by them, no matter the cost. Give us the courage to do so. In your name we pray. Amen