Artist: Briton Rivière (1840-1920)

Gray days are my nemesis. A gloomy day, not to mention a week of them strung together like burned-out Christmas lights, throws me into a pit of depression.

Is God able to lift me out of this gloomy funk that clings to me like a bad smell? I know God can do anything--but is He willing to lift my spirits, change my mood from negative to positive, give me a new spring in my step and hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel?

Daniel 6 tells how King Darius was duped into sentencing Daniel, a godly man, to certain death in the lion's den. I wonder if Daniel felt this same hopeless feeling after he was shoved into the dark and smelly den, seeing the hungry eyes of lions, close enough to feel their hot breath on his face. Daniel had every reason to think he would never see the sunshine again--much better reasons than I have to feel depressed on this dreary day when life seems overwhelming.

I cry out with King Darius as he prays in Daniel 6:17 (NIV), "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" I drape these words over my weary body knowing that I also need to be rescued from my den of self-pity. Ferocious lions of envy, depression, and life-weariness lurk to gobble up my peace and rob me of joy.

The King didn't sleep the night Daniel slept with the lions. In the early morning, he hurried to the den and called out in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" Daniel 6:19 (NIV)

Daniel answered, "My God sent his angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me..." Daniel 6:22 (NIV)

Today may seem like a bad day but I choose to stand with Daniel, trust that angels are on their way, maybe already working to bring sunshine back into my life and close the mouths of every hungry lion.

"And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." Daniel 6:23 (NIV)

Dear Lord, please lift me from this stinking lion's den, free me from every dark and gloomy thought. Flood light into areas of darkness. Let me feel the joy of your Holy Spirit again.  Amen

© 2006  Candace Simar
Used with permission

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