On-Time Delivery.

Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.” A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel. (Daniel 6:16-17)

Daniel spent the night in the lions’ den. Was Daniel delivered? Yes. However, let’s take a few minutes to consider Daniel’s plight. From a sunset to a sunrise, he was placed in a dire situation that could not be changed.

We are sometimes tempted to believe that the process of deliverance is a preventing process that keeps us from experiencing situations like Daniel’s. We think that we are saved from crises. Daniel’s experience reminds us that, sometimes, we are saved through crises. Our great testimony is not that we avoided unjust actions; it is that we have experienced unjust actions, survived, and were vindicated.

King Darius’s words and actions in Daniel 6:16-17 may have seemed contradictory, but they were not. The king knew that he could not alter the laws of the land, and he knew that God had the power to supersede the laws of men. So, even though the king had to use signet rings as proof of a binding law, the king also used his own mouth to testify to the truth: God will deliver.

Has your faith caused you to be punished under a binding law? Have no fear. The law can be upheld, as it must, and the Lord God can deliver His people. “He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6:27) Be at peace in the den. The lions won't harm you. Evening will become morning, and you will be vindicated.