Daniel 6:10,11 “Immovable”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁰And when Daniel knew that the writing was written, he went to his house and windows being opened to him in his roof-chamber toward Jerusalem and three times in the day he [was] one kneeling upon his knees and one praying and praising/thanking before his God as he was one doing from before this. ¹¹Then the men those stormed in and found Daniel asking and requesting before his God…

Once again, I’ve stayed parked on this passage for quite a while, just trying to absorb Daniel’s example into my own heart and life. I have been wrestling trying to find one word to describe what I see in Daniel. What amazes me is how he is so constant, so steady. He is just simply a rock. The impression I get from the passage is that Daniel seems to remain completely calm and unmoved by all this evil aimed squarely at him.

When he learns of the decree, what does he do? The same as he always had. He goes to his home and prays “just as he had done before.” One man said, “Nevertheless, Daniel maintained a dignified and peaceful demeanor.” Someone else called it “decision of character,” another “constancy,” another “invincible determination.” Someone else described him as having “a firm, decided, steadfast regard to God and His will, whatever may arise.” Someone else called him “undaunted.”

It occurs to me, the word I’m looking for is “immovable.” From the very opening chapter of this book, the impression I’ve gotten of Daniel is that he is a man who decides who he is and what he will do, then calmly, respectfully, but resolutely sets about to be and do exactly that, even if someone threatens to feed him to lions! Or, like his friends, throw him in a fiery furnace. Or execute him “along with the other wise men of Babylon.”

I would like so much to be like Daniel. I’m afraid I’m not. I feel most of the time like I’m a battered ship in a hurricane. The winds and waves of life beat furiously on “my bark so small and frail,” and it all just leaves me exhausted. I don’t think anyone at work would describe me as “calm” or “serene.” Probably something more like “harried,” or “frantic.” One good friend told me I was the “‘nervousest’ guy he’d ever met.” I don’t want to be like that. I just haven’t yet figured out how to change.

I know other engineers who appear to have this same quality Daniel possessed. They seem to just go on with their work calmly and deliberately, even though they’re just as buried as I am. I’ve always admired those guys and wished I could be like them. I asked one of them once how he stays so calm and he replied, “Well, we can only do what we can do.” That sounded good except, as I replied to him, “but it all has to get done!” To me, it is no option to leave things undone just because I want to be a calm person. To me life is like having a 50-acre hayfield cut and dried and it’s supposed to rain the next three days straight(!). What do you do? You’d better get your fanny out there and get that hay in! It may be nice to tell yourself, “We can only do what we can do,” but you’d better get that hay in or you’ll likely lose it all.

That’s how I think, anyway. And so I sit here pondering this fine man Daniel. I sure wish I could have known him, listened to him, watched him, learned from him all day every day. The rest of the world can have their “superheroes.” Daniel would be mine.

Two things that really stand out to me: The first is how he prays “three times a day,” while the second is the twice repeated words “before his God.” As I’ve been pondering this passage, it has occurred to me that his prayers are probably much more focused than mine. I try to be praying “continually,” trying to be aware of the Lord’s presence and talking to Him about whatever is going on all through the day. However, when it comes to my “prayers,” I’m praying for my family, our church, our country – what I see as the “big issues” swirling around me. That is all well and good, but I very strongly suspect that Daniel’s three prayers a day were much more focused than mine.

What I mean is that his morning prayers were no doubt focused on what he would be facing that very morning. In his mind, he was determined to get through that, then he’d be back to talk to the Lord at noon about whatever he would face that afternoon. Perhaps the third prayers were about what was going on in the evening or they could have been more of a recap of the day or an initial look at the next day. I’m almost seeing Daniel trying to re-live what Adam lost, that “walking with the Lord in the cool of the day.” I wish so much I could do exactly that—meet with the Lord, ask Him my questions, get His direction, sort out my priorities…” I think I need to see my “prayers” as more of exactly that. I need to be much more focused on what I’ll face in just the next few hours.

I have been trying to do that. The other thing I noted above is the twice repeated phrase “before his God.” In Hebrew they are exactly the same words in both verse 10 and 11. Therein, of course, is the secret to it all, that Daniel lived and worked “before His God.” I’m very aware that my problem is, like poor Peter, that I look too much at the wind and the waves instead of at Jesus. Whatever success I have had at learning to be a calm person always comes from learning to keep my eyes more on Him. I know, in the end, I just need to do that better. Just for the record, I’ll say that is my source of hope—that the closer I get to the Lord, the calmer a person I’ll be. I guess I’m just “not there yet.”

I pray that the Lord would use His very fine servant Daniel to help me see life more clearly, see the real battles that I’m facing, and learn how to be “immovable.” Like Daniel.