“But Peter and the apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority.’” – Acts 5:29
As we continue to look at the courage and obedience of Daniel, we see the third reason Daniel was able to display such amazing courage. We know he overcame the fear of missing out. He also overcame the fear of other people. But there is one more thing he specifically overcame, and that is the fear of radical obedience.
In Daniel 6, we come to the final story of Daniel serving in the king’s court. This time, the king was Darius. Usually, when a new king would take the throne, he would get rid of those who served in the previous administration and replace them with new people who were faithful to him.
But Daniel had already served under three different kings, which implies Daniel was highly thought of by the entire kingdom. Darius really trusted Daniel. Daniel was being elevated and promoted because God had blessed him, and yet, it seems like those blessings put a target on his back with the other people serving in the king’s court.
Daniel’s opponents tried to use his faithfulness to God against him. And so they convinced King Darius to make a decree saying no one could pray to any god except to Darius himself. Obviously, Daniel was not going to do this because we know Daniel was only going to obey God.
This does not mean Daniel went without consequences. Listen, there are always consequences for radical obedience, but Daniel believed the safest thing he could do was to radically obey God.
When you live your life with the understanding that God is in control, it changes the way you walk. It redefines what it looks like to walk by faith. You see, when you understand that God is 100% in control, it should lead you to walk by faith without any hesitation.
When it comes to following His commands and being faithful to Him, there shouldn’t be any question. Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of natural fear that results from radical obedience. Sometimes it is scary choosing courage and saying YES to God.
Courage doesn’t mean we have no fear; it means taking action despite our fear. That is what God has called us to do. Do you trust Him enough to take action even when you are fearful?