This past weekend, Pastor Mark exhorted us to start living dangerously - not in the sense that we go out and do reckless things or make foolish decisions, but that we would pray for God to make us dangerous so that we would be a threat to our enemy. Pastor Mark used Paul as example of someone who boldly and passionately pursued the cause of Christ, despite the danger he encountered (2 Corinthians 11:21-33).
When I think of other biblical heroes who were “dangerous,” one that jumps out at me is Daniel. Daniel was one of the Jewish exiles who was taken into captivity to Babylon, and due to his extraordinary faithfulness and gifts, he distinguished himself and was appointed as one of three administrators with authority over the kingdom. Now, there were other administrators and satraps who were jealous of Daniel and deliberately set a trap for him. These satraps “tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Dan. 6:4). In order to get Daniel “ousted” from his job - and King Darius’ favor - they appealed to the king to promulgate an un-repealable edict that “anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den” (Dan. 6:7). And so King Darius issued the edict.
Worshiping the Almighty God of Israel had just become a crime punishable by death by the mouths of lions. And how did Daniel respond? Look at Daniel 6:10: “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before.” When he was discovered, the other administrators and satraps turned him into King Darius, who although he respected and favored Daniel, had little choice but to cast him into the lions’ den.
We know how the story ends - God shuts the mouths of the lions and Daniel survives the night and is freed the next morning. But even more importantly, King Darius encounters the Almighty God and issues a new decree to the Babylonian people: “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom shall not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions” (Dan. 6:26-27).
Daniel was dangerous - despite the consequences looming before him, he chose to worship God and pray to him openly. He could have panicked, he could have become paralyzed, but instead, he chose to pray. And because of his faithfulness, God turned a dangerous situation into a tremendous opportunity. Being in the lions’ den afforded Daniel the opportunity to:
* experience a gloriously intense encounter with God, who sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and preserve Daniel (see also how the Lord Himself sustained Paul when he was all alone - 2 Tim. 4:16-18);
* emerge from a terribly hurtful situation unhurt; and
* see a worldly Darius become impressed with his God.
When we ask God to “make us dangerous,” we open ourselves up to new opportunities to encounter Him and to impact the world in which we live. Our enemy doesn’t like dangerous Christians. 1 Peter 5:8 describes him this way: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” When we resist him by living for the glory of God, obeying the Lord’s commands, and being sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we wound him and deprive him of any power over us. Imagine - if the church, as one, prayed for God to make us dangerous and went on the offense, how much damage we could do to our enemy and thwart his evil plans.
Do you regularly wound the enemy? Lord, make us dangerous!
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