Suffer for the Right Reasons

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. (Daniel 6:4 NKJV)

In the Old Testament we read of a man named Daniel, who was envied by other leaders in the kingdom. They were jealous of his position of authority, and they wanted to trip him up. But Daniel lived such a godly life, they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. They scrutinized him. They watched him. But he walked on the straight and narrow.

Finally they recognized that they could find nothing wrong with Daniel unless it was concerning him and his God. They knew that every day, Daniel would pray and face Jerusalem. So they had the king draft a law forbidding everyone from praying to any god except the king. The law was decreed, but Daniel’s enemies knew he still would pray.

Thank God when your enemies have to make up lies about you because there is nothing else to hang their accusations on. There was nothing wrong with Daniel, so his enemies had to lay a trap for him.

Could that be said of you or of me? Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12 NKJV). If people are going to say things about us, then let them be lies—and not because we’re failing to live godly lives.

How we need more people like Daniel, who fearlessly proclaimed the word of God to Nebuchadnezzar, and then to his grandson, in spite of the potential harm to his own life.

I pray that in our day, we’ll have more real Christians who will turn their world upside down, who will impact their culture in a positive way.