Be Like Daniel: Respond with Prayer and Humility

After the king extended his deadline, Daniel went to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in private and asked them to pray so God would“ show them his mercy by telling them the secret” of what the king dreamed and what it meant (Daniel 2:18). Daniel recognized that he and his friends were no more deserving of understanding the dream than others in the king’s service. He knew he needed God’s mercy (forgiveness). Knowing God was a compassionate God,  he asked God to spare his life by explaining the king’s dream. There was no guarantee God would honor this request. He could have told him no. But out of the depths of his heart, he poured out his prayer anyways. He knew who God was. He was gracious, slow to anger, full of everlasting love, and faithful despite Israel’s unfaithfulness (Exodus 34:6). God, by this mercy, would at least listen to his prayer and answer it according to his mysterious, supreme wisdom.  

Friend, be like Daniel. I know you may have regrets from the past that make you hesitant to share your story. Our view of God does not have to waver though. Like Daniel, we know the God we serve is merciful. He hears our prayers. He is slow to anger when we sin. He is full of an everlasting love that is faithful to us despite our doubts and fears. Your story, like every other Christian’s testimony, has sin in it. Maybe something from your past. You need to understand your harassment narrative is not connected with your past. It stems from sin and denies your God given right to be respected as his beautiful creation. 

The world will tell you otherwise. I thought I deserved to be bullied because someone said I selfishly wanted the world’s applause. This same person said I laughed at my perpetrator’s joke, making him somehow think I was open sexually to him. As a survivor, you have to shift through what you hear. You need to determine if those who talk to you about your harassment have your best interests at heart. Even if I did laugh at his jokes, no one has the right to misuse my body for their own sexual pleasure. Compare their message with Scripture. Even if my heart was in the wrong place, my friend had no right to mistreatment me through shame and rumor spreading. 

As for your mistakes, if you believe you acted in a way that defied God’s commands in Scripture, confess you sin. The God of mercy wants to and can make beauty from your ashes. Like Daniel, you can believe in a God who is slow to anger, faithful, and steadfast in love. You can come to him and ask him, in his unending mercy, to be with you. And then, hold tight to the promise that he answered your prayer. He is with you, directing your path in his mysterious and beautiful wisdom.