Sunday Snippets- Less worry and more peace

I made it to church this morning.  And so did a lot of other people...it was super crowded.  Maybe it is some people's New Year's resolution to go to church more and they drug their hungover selves to church because who wants to break their resolution on day 1!?

Anyway, this morning's sermon was on Daniel.  Which is ironically what we are studying in my Bible study right now.  Today they focused on the most famous section in Daniel- Daniel and the lion's den.

(Side note- I may have heard Daniel and the lion's den story when I was little, but I certainly didn't remember it!  When we picked this study on Daniel I was like "Who's Daniel"?)

If you don't know the story either, basically Daniel is favored by the king and all the other king's men get kind of jealous of him.  They know that he has a strong faith in God so they convince the king to pass a temporary law that everyone must stop worshiping their God and must worship the king.  And if they don't they will be thrown into the lion's den where they will certainly be killed by the lions.

The king is like "Heck yeah, I'm the king, so they should worship me." (Which the preacher pointed out is like most of us.  Think about it, if you worked your way up to president of your company wouldn't you want that kind of praise and respect?)  So he signs it into law.

Well, of course Daniel refuses to stop worshiping God and so the king is forced to throw him in the lion's den.  In the morning he rushes down and cries "Daniel was your God able to save you?" and sure enough Daniel didn't have a scratch on him.

The thing that stood out for me in this sermon was "Daniel had peace about the situation because he had faith." 

I have never even come close to being torn to shreds by lions, and I don't have that kind of peace.  Heck I think I even make up things in my head that aren't even real to be worried about.  But Daniel knew no matter what God was in control and he rested in that.  I want to do more of that this year.  I want to replace fear with peace. 

Do you know how many times it says in the Bible to not worry?  to not be afraid?  In a sermon a few months ago our pastor's wife pointed out that every time you worry you are sinning because the Bible tells you not to (multiple times).  I had never thought of it like that.  Now every time I catch myself worrying I remind myself of that and remind myself that God is in control and works for the good of all those who love Him.  I need to trust Him and rest in that more.

So here's to less worry and more peace in 2012!