The Blessing of Loneliness
So school is back in session, and everybody is trying to find out where they fit in. Are you a nerd, a jock, a cheerleader? Where exactly do you fit in? Sometimes you don't fit in. You don't fit in because you were made to stand out. It is in that exclusion that you will find your blessing.
To be honest, not everybody is going to like you.Some people don't even know why they don't like you. It's not that there's something wrong with you. You're just you. Don't feel like nobody will ever understand. Open your Bible! Daniel was in the same predicament.
See. They didn't even have a real reason to dislike Daniel. Daniel hadn't done anything to any of the 119 of them. Pause-- you know how good you got to be at your job for 119 people not to like you because of it? Like.....most of the time people say they have "haters" it's like 5 people, but Daniel had 119 at least. They hated Daniel so much so that they had a decree put in place to stop him from doing what he loved to do.
Here's the thing: some people don't hate you because of what you did or who you are; they hate you because you are who you are unapologetically. It literally says in the NLT version “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Daniel didn't care what anybody said. He knew God was the head of his life.
There's so many things I want to point out in this excerpt. Daniel literally did not care what people thought. His was unshakeable. Even though he was praying for help, he still went to God first. Scripture never says that Daniel worried. It says he went to his room and prayed. The thing about having faith is, it makes you do things no matter what people say.
For example, I literally just packed my stuff up and moved in the last week. I knew God told me to move 6 months ago. My dad literally told me I was crazy if I thought God was talking to me. Besides that, usually if you're moving, you have money saved up, a job, a place, SOMETHING. I literally had nothing. God told me Sunday after work "you're not going back Wednesday." Anybody looking at me probably thought I was absolutely crazy. But my faith was crazy enough to jump.
When I look at verse 14, all I see is favor.
Daniel didn't even know the king knew what was going on. He hadn't said a word to him, but the king was still trying to rescue him. Favor is just something that is completely illogical. The law says Daniel is supposed to die. Favor says that the same person who wrote the law is willing to break it for God's child.
The crazy thing is that when God steps in, everybody involved will be doing things that don't even make sense. King Darius didn't even believe in God, but was trying to rescue Daniel. He literally was going out of his way. Even when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, King Darius spoke a word and didn't even know. He said may God (a god he didn't believe in btw) rescue Daniel.
King Darius literally spoke life. Daniel was being thrown to his death, but King Darius spoke a word. I believe he asked it in faith. The Bible says
Now Daniel's in the lion den. Not only is he in the den, but there is a rock covering the opening, which means it's dark. I don't know about yall, but I don't wanna be NOWHERE where I can't see, especially if it's an unfamiliar place.
But it's in those dark places where you don't know what's coming and you can't see your way out that faith is built. For we walk by faith and not by sight. The dark is a scary place. It makes me think of my own life. I'm kinda scared of the dark (I know that's crazy. I'm too old for that). I literally will turn on every light in the room so it won't be too dark if I'm home alone. There's an uncertainty when I'm alone. I'm okay if I'm in the dark and there is someone else there. But even at the time in my life where I was literally alone and in the dark and didn't know what to do, my faith was built. I got my strength back. I got my boldness.
It's like a tree. The roots grow underground in the dark. When a tree has deep roots, it can withstand wind. It can withstand storms. Last year, a hurricane went through an area not too far from me, and I remember driving through after the storm, and some of the biggest trees I had ever seen were laying in the roads, but then I saw smaller trees out on their own still standing. Why? Because it's roots run deep.
Being big doesn't mean you have deep roots. Tree roots grow their entire lifespan. So some people get older, but they don't get deeper in their faith. But when you're faith is deep, you'll withstand things that should've killed you.
Deep faith creates a boldness.
Deep faith will make you say "Though they slay me. Yet will will I trust You." Deep faith will literally save you life.
I don't want to get too deep into this, but I'm a Leo. If you didn't know: Leo's are lions. When I was younger, I used to be really into horoscopes and stuff, and I studied lions. I studied their behaviors. Most lions do not pick fights with other lions unless they are intimidated by it or they feel like it's going to take over. The other thing is lions are afraid of animals bigger than them. I believe that the reason Daniel wasn't attacked is because his faith got bold as lion, and the LION OF JUDAH showed up. When God shows up, He can calm a storm.
Look at verse 23. It says he survived because he trusted God. Some of you are going through storms right now, and it's tearing your tail up. You keep trying to do it on your own, but just trust God. I'm telling you! Trust God! That's how people who have been in the same situation survived. In verse 24, the men that went against Daniel were eaten before they even got all the way into the den. Why? Because they didn't trust God.
It is in your dark place, your alone place where you learn to trust God. So don't feel bad when you can't go everywhere with everybody and do the same things as everybody else. That exclusion will bless you
To be honest, not everybody is going to like you.Some people don't even know why they don't like you. It's not that there's something wrong with you. You're just you. Don't feel like nobody will ever understand. Open your Bible! Daniel was in the same predicament.
Daniel 6:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
6 [a]Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. 2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. 3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law.
See. They didn't even have a real reason to dislike Daniel. Daniel hadn't done anything to any of the 119 of them. Pause-- you know how good you got to be at your job for 119 people not to like you because of it? Like.....most of the time people say they have "haters" it's like 5 people, but Daniel had 119 at least. They hated Daniel so much so that they had a decree put in place to stop him from doing what he loved to do.
Here's the thing: some people don't hate you because of what you did or who you are; they hate you because you are who you are unapologetically. It literally says in the NLT version “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Daniel didn't care what anybody said. He knew God was the head of his life.
Daniel 6:10-16 New Living Translation (NLT)
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”
“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”
14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”
16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
There's so many things I want to point out in this excerpt. Daniel literally did not care what people thought. His was unshakeable. Even though he was praying for help, he still went to God first. Scripture never says that Daniel worried. It says he went to his room and prayed. The thing about having faith is, it makes you do things no matter what people say.
For example, I literally just packed my stuff up and moved in the last week. I knew God told me to move 6 months ago. My dad literally told me I was crazy if I thought God was talking to me. Besides that, usually if you're moving, you have money saved up, a job, a place, SOMETHING. I literally had nothing. God told me Sunday after work "you're not going back Wednesday." Anybody looking at me probably thought I was absolutely crazy. But my faith was crazy enough to jump.
When I look at verse 14, all I see is favor.
Psalm 5:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
The crazy thing is that when God steps in, everybody involved will be doing things that don't even make sense. King Darius didn't even believe in God, but was trying to rescue Daniel. He literally was going out of his way. Even when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, King Darius spoke a word and didn't even know. He said may God (a god he didn't believe in btw) rescue Daniel.
Proverbs 18:21 New Living Translation (NLT)
21 The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences
those who love to talk will reap the consequences
King Darius literally spoke life. Daniel was being thrown to his death, but King Darius spoke a word. I believe he asked it in faith. The Bible says
Matthew 21:22 New Living Translation (NLT)
22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
Daniel 6:17-18 New Living Translation (NLT)
17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.
Now Daniel's in the lion den. Not only is he in the den, but there is a rock covering the opening, which means it's dark. I don't know about yall, but I don't wanna be NOWHERE where I can't see, especially if it's an unfamiliar place.
But it's in those dark places where you don't know what's coming and you can't see your way out that faith is built. For we walk by faith and not by sight. The dark is a scary place. It makes me think of my own life. I'm kinda scared of the dark (I know that's crazy. I'm too old for that). I literally will turn on every light in the room so it won't be too dark if I'm home alone. There's an uncertainty when I'm alone. I'm okay if I'm in the dark and there is someone else there. But even at the time in my life where I was literally alone and in the dark and didn't know what to do, my faith was built. I got my strength back. I got my boldness.
It's like a tree. The roots grow underground in the dark. When a tree has deep roots, it can withstand wind. It can withstand storms. Last year, a hurricane went through an area not too far from me, and I remember driving through after the storm, and some of the biggest trees I had ever seen were laying in the roads, but then I saw smaller trees out on their own still standing. Why? Because it's roots run deep.
Being big doesn't mean you have deep roots. Tree roots grow their entire lifespan. So some people get older, but they don't get deeper in their faith. But when you're faith is deep, you'll withstand things that should've killed you.
Deep faith creates a boldness.
Proverbs 28:1 New Living Translation (NLT)
28 The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.
but the godly are as bold as lions.
Deep faith will make you say "Though they slay me. Yet will will I trust You." Deep faith will literally save you life.
I don't want to get too deep into this, but I'm a Leo. If you didn't know: Leo's are lions. When I was younger, I used to be really into horoscopes and stuff, and I studied lions. I studied their behaviors. Most lions do not pick fights with other lions unless they are intimidated by it or they feel like it's going to take over. The other thing is lions are afraid of animals bigger than them. I believe that the reason Daniel wasn't attacked is because his faith got bold as lion, and the LION OF JUDAH showed up. When God shows up, He can calm a storm.
Daniel 6:19-28 New Living Translation (NLT)
19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den.20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.
For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.[a]
Look at verse 23. It says he survived because he trusted God. Some of you are going through storms right now, and it's tearing your tail up. You keep trying to do it on your own, but just trust God. I'm telling you! Trust God! That's how people who have been in the same situation survived. In verse 24, the men that went against Daniel were eaten before they even got all the way into the den. Why? Because they didn't trust God.
It is in your dark place, your alone place where you learn to trust God. So don't feel bad when you can't go everywhere with everybody and do the same things as everybody else. That exclusion will bless you
Luke 6:22 New Living Translation (NLT)
22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.
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