Perspective!

Was praying for some perspective from the Word as I woke up this morning and this is what the Lord gave me. First of all, I read 1 Kings 20 where evil king Benhadad of Aram came out to fight the King of Israel (Ahab). Long story short is that the Arameans far outnumbered the Israelites, but God worked mightily on behalf of His people to defeat a much larger army. Point I took away was that despite the overwhelming odds against God's people, the Lord is still sovereignly and powerfully in control to protect His people. Even in our current desperate condition as a country with Christianity under fire, we can rest assured that God is in Control and working for our good. Then Psalm 104-105 both testimonies of God's great work on behalf of His people. God is in control :). "Glory in His Holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually" (Ps.105:3-4). Then I read Daniel 6. Daniel was so upright and blessed by God that his peers among the wise men of Babylon were jealous and sought to discredit him. They could find NO ground for accusation and no corruption in Him. So they sought to force him to compromise his religious convictions by forbidding the worship of any god or person other than king Darius. When Daniel knew the decree was set, he ignored the consequences and continued to bow down towards Jerusalem three times a day in prayer. He was caught and sentenced to the lions den. His courage to stand firm on his convictions knowing he would have to face the adverse consequences is encouragement to me and to every believer in the face of increasingly hostile conditions. Christians are under increasing pressure to compromise and our religious freedoms are under assault. Daniel provides a fitting role model and God's protection of Him is encouraging as well. A little perspective for my day.