All Saints Church Podcast

God delivers Daniel from the lions' den, but does he get to go home? The story is silent. What we do see, however, is a God who meets us in our longings for home, for peace, and for restoration. Daniel's practice of prayer prepares him to be faithful in the midst of his exile, and his story points to our ultimate restoration and return home to God through Jesus.

Sometimes you make decisions you can't undo. At Belshazzar's drunken feast, the misuse of Jerusalem's sacred vessels led to the terrifying hand writing on the wall that announced God’s judgment for his enemies. But God's hand offered something different to his people suffering in exile––the hope of restoration.

In Daniel 4, God finally brings King Nebuchadnezzar to his knees, passing judgment on the ways he has offended the True King and dehumanized those entrusted to his care. Yet even in God's judgment we find mercy, compassion, and an opportunity to repent–and thanks be to Christ! He can take our disfigured souls and make them whole.

Evan Wickham, pastor of Park Hill Church, explores how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse Nebuchadnezzar’s demand to worship a golden image and choose faithful obedience even under threat of a blazing furnace. Key themes include how empire seeks our attention, affection, and use; the power of friendship to help us resist compromise; and the promise that God is present in our fires, able to rescue us, and with us even if deliverance does not come this side of heaven.

God has set you somewhere. And sometimes in the places God sets us–families, workplaces, nations–we face trouble. What do you do when you're facing trouble in Babylon? Pray, don't just act. Act, don't just pray. Because Babylon may not be home, but it is your assignment.