The life of Daniel proves what your enemies can and cannot do to you. It proves these five things:
1. They can take you away from where you belong, but they cannot take away your sense of belonging. Daniel was taken as a captive to Babylon, but his heart never left Jerusalem.
2. They can impose their identity on you, but they cannot take away your true identity. Daniel means: “God is my judge.” The Babylonians renamed him Belteshazzar: “A prince of Bel” meaning “Confused”, the god of Babylon (Confusion). But that false identity hasn’t stuck because we know him as Daniel.
3. They can see stars, connect dots and create the signs of the Zodiac (astrology), but stars reminded Daniel of God’s promise to Abraham: “So shall your descendants be.” So, too, shall yours. They could interpret revealed dreams but Daniel received a revelation of what the king had dreamed and then interpreted it;
4. They can enforce on you their “unbreakable” laws, but God can miraculously annul the power of those potentially destructive laws. The Law of the Medes and Persians had no effect on Daniel’s night in the lion’s den, and the same God can annul restrictions imposed on you;
5. They may be able to restrict you from contact with God’s people, but they cannot prevent you from speaking God’s messages to world leaders who lack understanding and are seeking direction.
So, as my late mother used to say: “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone; dare to have a purpose firm, and dare to make it known!”