"Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God has sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me;" (Daniel 6: 19-22 (to ;)
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." (Psalm 91: Verses 1 & 7)
Somewhere in the biblical book of Daniel, it's written that Daniel turned to God three times a day. For this reason (worshipping God rather than the king) he was thrown into a den of lions. This story fascinates readers, even today; for one can hardly think of a more dangerous scenario than being placed as the main dish before several hungry beasts.
The fact that Daniel's relationship with God was able to bring divine power right into the den and influence the carnivorous lions, defies the entire human condition. It seems utterly supernatural. Certainly no one wants to try it today. Yet, that's exactly what we do, in less dramatic ways, every single time our own faith in the unseen presence of God, and our trust in the benevolent nature of this divine Intelligence, brings about a change for the better to some threatening circumstance or situation. It's like what I was told as a child by an enlightened Sunday School teacher: "if you're in a bad place, always remember, 'but God is here too.' That will make all the difference, because wherever God is, all God's power is also."
People have proven this over and over throughout history. Faith in the presence and power of God brings about harmony where discord seems to be in control. That's why many people believe in faith healing; but, really, it isn't one's faith that is the healing agent--it's replacing the false belief of God's absence with the truth of Spirit's sustaining presence and only power. It's the stand one takes for the omnipotence of God, and the refusal to believe in any power opposed to God, which brings forth the transformation to the human situation.
Trusting something that is invisibly present can seem foolish to some, until it's tested. The invisible buoyancy of water supports a swimmer, while those afraid to trust the water, don't jump in. Yet, the principles that produces the ability to swim are like the invisible principles that support an airplane in flight: they exist for everyone. Young or old, big or small, trust in the divine Intelligence which created and maintains the creation forever will result in a dominance over whatever evil seems prevalent in the human scene. Anyone can have a lions-den experience.
Many years ago, when I was new to the practice of spiritual healing, a woman came to visit me. She heard that I believed in spiritual healing, and she wanted me to do what I could for her infant grandson, who had been diagnosed with a fatal disease. Since the baby was so young, his parents had to wait another month before taking him to a specialist in another state. They were, of course, frantic.
I knew this family well and had grown up with the father of the child. I also knew that his mother, the woman who'd come to see me, was fascinated by all the tragedies that befell people. She spoke of diseases and disasters continuously, repeating to every one she knew, whatever she'd heard of someone else, drawing great satisfaction in being the bearer of such news. No doubt she had predicted to the parents (before their son was even born) all the ills that her grandson might encounter. She wasn't a mean woman; she just believed so thoroughly in evil's presence and power. If she believed in God's goodness at all, it wasn't apparent.
Still, she had asked me for a good thing, so I told her that I'd be happy to pray to see God's eternal care for the baby; but before doing so, I'd have to hear from one of his parents that it was okay for me to do such praying for their child. That evening, the baby's father called and asked me to please pray.
In speaking with him, I requested that, since he was seeking a spiritual healing, to please open his mind to the possibility of its worth. In other words, don't ask divine Spirit, God, to reveal Its presence and all power, if he didn't really believe in it. This would be asking in vain. To call upon God's power, and then doubt its ability to do anything, is a useless gesture--it takes the Lord's name in vain. I made this request to him because I knew the importance of the beliefs we hold in consciousness. To bring the kingdom of God into the human scene requires a faith in the invisible spiritual reality, instead of what the physical senses are claiming as true.
When I began to pray, I still felt uneasy about the negative atmosphere surrounding this infant. As a new practitioner of spiritual healing, I wasn't sure I understood enough of spiritual reality and God's ever-presence to take on this mission. I was somewhat afraid that my prayer couldn't subdue all the human, sickly beliefs of the people in this child's family and daily life. So, I began by asking God, the divine Intelligence within, to reveal to me what I had to see spiritually, to bring forth the child's health and safety under God's government, despite the human family influences into which the baby had been born.
Almost immediately, a mental picture came to me of a large, closed hand. Suddenly, the hand began to open, and an infant, wrapped in a blanket, was resting within the palm of this hand. Then the open hand with the infant began to rise, until it was high in the air. Next, these words came to my thought: "God holds all of Its children above and beyond all human beliefs."
This was exactly what I needed to hear and see--that human belief has no real power to touch the body, soul, or mind of God's own children. This child was God's son, not man's. Man is not a creator; humankind reproduces only through the eternal, creative laws of the Infinite One. What did it matter what people around the child thought or believed? God's truth is the only truth, and the power of the infinite Intelligence that creates us is also able to maintain us, despite what others believe about our life and being. I remembered that God is our only Authority in all ways. Just as the presence of God is invisible, so is the health and eternal life of each of us invisible to the material senses. This baby, whose body, soul and mind was forever in Spirit's keeping, had health that his family knew not of. And the wholeness of this child's spiritual being couldn't be touched by anything in the seeming material creation, nor any belief that any one held in the material dream of existence. Right where there seemed to be a sickly, physical infant, there was really a healthy, spiritually whole child of God, forever in the keeping of Spirit.
All uneasiness left me, and I then knew the baby was safe, despite the claims of materiality and illness. I also realized that people are not healers; for, in spiritual reality, there's never anything or anyone to heal. We can only be seers of what a loving God is eternally doing in the infinite, invisible kingdom that is always present. Neither bogus material laws nor material beliefs ever really made anyone ill, or ever touched anyone's true being, safe in God's keeping. That's because we're spiritual beings, not physical beings.
When the baby was examined a month later by the specialist, no trace of the disease was present. This examining was done, off and on for weeks, but the disease never reappeared. He's in his thirties now, and although I lost touch with the family some years ago, I've heard he's quite well.
For me, fairly new to spiritual healing, this was a lions'-den experience. I had faced all the beliefs of the world about this infant, and I realized that since God was with him, nothing else mattered. God's presence was with this child, which meant there was no other presence or power. This baby was God's son, still at one with his spiritual Source. There can't be God and disease present with anyone; there can only be God and God's loving care that is present. The illusion of a mythical power called disease vanished, and the physical condition altered in the way truth commanded.
In Daniel's presence and spiritual insight, the seeming carnivorous lions tranformed into loving creatures under God's control. It wasn't supernatural--it was divinely natural. The truer, spiritual nature of the lions emerged. The lions didn't change in reality…they were always the loving creatures of God's creating. But Daniel had to fully realize that in order for the world's false manifestation of lions to disappear. In the 'secret place of the most high', what thousands believed about lions did not come nigh Daniel. That's because, even in the den of lions, Daniel's abode (consciousness) was under 'the shadow of the Almighty.'
