Replacing Fear with Faith

UV 569/10,000 Replacing Fear with Faith Daniel 10 v 12 Daniel 10 v 12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. Daniel did not rejoice or relax in the authority or perquisites of high office. The external glory of the Babylonian empire did not dazzle or blind his eyes. Instead, he accepted a spiritual challenge. He humbled himself before God. He remembered the plight of Israel, his people now in captivity. He set his heart to understand the will of God. He resorted regularly to fasting and praying. The Lord God heard his prayers from the first day he humbled himself and sought God but the heart of God was moved when Daniel fasted continually for 21 days avoiding both good food and beverage. He sent a man clothed in linen with a sash of gold. This was a Christophany or an appearance of Christ. People hear the words of our mouths but God alone hears the words of our hearts. The Lord heard the words of Daniel’s heart from the first day he humbled himself to pray. At the appointed hour, the Lord sent the vision or revelation like a deluge. Daniel was not prepared mentally or emotionally for such an overpowering and awesome vision. His strength was drained from him. But, the Lord reassured him and even as He spoke, the Word of God strengthened Daniel. Daniel was a character that inspired me from the early days of my youth and my faith. He did not find pleasure in “the rivers of Babylon.” The rivers of Babylon are a metaphor for the life of hedonism: wealth and pleasure-seeking that the elite in every nation and generation are given to. Instead, he sought the rivers of pleasure at the right hand of God. Daniel was blemishless. He prayed thrice at set times of the day. He excelled in all that he did. He had the favour of successive kings. He was willing to stand for God at the cost of his life. The mighty kings whom Daniel served are not remembered today except as mere historic names but Daniel is admired even today for his faith, his integrity, his courage and the amazing prophetic revelations he was given regarding the end times. Daniel was a watchman for the nation of Israel but the Lord gave him globally relevant revelations. Similarly, today many people who hold high office as well as ordinary people in many nations are called to be anointed watchmen for their nations. Michael the prince of the angels was sent to the assistance of Daniel. Similarly, the Lord appoints angels to be sent to our assistance in different situations to help us fulfill our mission in life. Even Daniel the faithful and courageous servant of God who had confronted death was told, “ Do not fear.” We only need to be faithful and not fearful. We need to identify all our fears, whether it is fear of failure or success, fear of premature as well as eternal death, fear of disease, fear of being deceived, fear of conflict,fear of calamity,fear of poverty, fear of loss of esteem, fear of shame and punishment, fear of the unknown and fear of the future. Then we should humble ourselves before God and ask the Lord to help us understand the source, the cause and the solution to these fears. The Lord will come to our help even as we pray. We need to make a 180 degree turn from each of these areas of fear and conquer it with the Lord’ s help and make it an area of faith, strength,courage and victory. When we go to the Lord in prayer, He comes to us in person. Prayer connects God and us at our deepest levels. He allays our fears and strokes our hopes. Prateep V Philip