New Believers Of God

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Starting that same week, we began another practice in conjunction with Hangin' In. A bible study.

Until that point, I never had a bible of my own, and therefore had to buy one from the local bookstore. Its design was nothing more than ordinary, just a black pocket-sized hardcover with the words "Holy Bible" printed on the front in gold letters.

We met up on Tuesday evening in the church basement, where Hunter had ordered a couple of pizzas. After chowing down and having some time to ourselves, we persisted with the reading.

"Let's open to Daniel 6:16." Hunter told us "We'll alternate with each verse. Go ahead and start Cole."

Doing so, I flipped through the pages to the said passage.

"So, the king gave the order," I began "And they brought Daniel and threw him in the lion's den, saying may your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"

"A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den," Shane continued "And the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation may not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him, and he could not sleep."

"At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den." Ethan continued"When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

"Daniel answered, may the king live forever!" Victor continued "My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, your Majesty."

"The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel from the den." Daryl continued "And when he was lifted, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."

"Okay." Hunter resumed "Now, be honest. Did you understand any of that?"

I looked up from my bible and glanced around at the others, who were all shaking their heads, and therefore I did the same.

"Alright then," he added "Let's try it again. I'll go ahead with reading, and you guys can listen. But while I'm doing that, I want you to do something else. Close your eyes and put yourselves in Daniel's shoes. Picture that you're in his situation and figure out what's really happening. Got it?"

No objections were made, and from there he began with the same verse I started with.

"So, the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him in the lion's den, saying may your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"

As he continued, I did what I was told and closed my eyes. In that mindset, I came up with my best illustration of the events being depicted.

There I was, in the lion's den, laying on the sandy ground, its graininess digging into my skin. Stone walls completely surrounded me, the only exit being a hole up above, sealed off with a large boulder. Only a small beam of light shined through the cracks, and even then, I could barely see a thing.

Suddenly, I heard a soft grumbling sound, and quickly turned around to realize it was a lion, several lions in fact.

"Get back!" I hollered "Stay away!"

Needless to say, that made no difference, and they began walking towards me.

"Help!" I shouted, "Somebody help me!"

However, nobody came, and I knew nobody was going to. There was no way out. The hole was far too high for my reach, not to mention, I would never be able to lift that boulder. This is where I was meant to die.

I was in a total panic. At any second, they were going to attack and had no idea what I could do about it. I was scrambling to figure out a solution but was too scared to think straight. I was the prey, in their territory.

Then I realized, being scared was my mistake here. If those lions knew I was afraid of them they would just come at me faster. I had to relax. I had to be strong.

I put my hands together and tried to calm down. I prayed to God, prayed for his saving grace, prayed for him to stop this fate from happening, and prayed for him to keep me alive.

When I looked back up, the lions were all standing back, no longer out to kill me, no longer seeing me as a threat. I had become their ruler.

"Daniel answered, may the king live forever!" Hunter concluded "My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, your Majesty. The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel from the den, and when he was lifted, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."

When I opened my eyes, the guys were all sitting still, visibly shaken.

"Do you understand now." he asked us.

We each nodded.