Daniel 6:14
“Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.”
If you have a heart for God, there will be many times when you are displeased with yourself. The Apostle Paul was displeased with himself in Romans 7, as he tells about his battle to overcome his besetting sin. Because we live in a body of flesh, we will fight sin until the day we die, and the sin we commit should cause us to be displeased with ourselves.
Darius made a mistake that caused him to be displeased with himself. There were men in the land who hated Daniel. They sent private investigators to find something in Daniel’s life that they could use against him. The only thing these investigators found was how Daniel served God. Because they had no smoking gun to use against Daniel, instead they persuaded Darius to make a law that anyone who prayed to anyone else other than Darius would be thrown into the lion’s den. Darius foolishly signed the law, and Daniel was found breaking that law as he prayed to God.
This action caused Darius to be displeased with himself. Instead of griping about what he had done, he took action to change what he had done. The steps Darius took to change the results of his actions are the same steps you must take to change yourself in the areas where you are displeased with yourself. Let me show you these steps.
First, you need to set your heart to change yourself. It says that Darius “set his heart on Daniel to deliver him.” There must be a determination inside you to change the displeasing areas of your life. That means there must be a recognition that you did wrong. Until you recognize that you must change, you will continue to sin and be displeased with yourself.
Second, you must work hard to change what you are doing. It says that Darius “laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.” The battle to overcome your sin will be a lifelong battle. The “going down of the sun” would symbolize the day you die. Friend, whether you like it or not, you are going to have to fight that besetting sin. You are going to have to labor to overcome the temptations sin throws at you. There are times when you will have to labor to determine what causes the temptations and then avoid the causes. A passive effort to overcome sin will never change the areas where you are displeased with yourself. It will take hard work, but you can do it.
Third, you must recognize Who can help you change. Darius went to God to help and change what he could not change. Darius understood that he was powerless to stop the mouths of lions. Likewise, you are powerless to overcome your sin, and you must call on God to help you face the lions in your life. You need to daily pray and ask God to close the mouths of the lions in your life that are trying to devour your Christian testimony. Sin has devoured many people before you, and you must realize that only God can close those mouths and give you victory over sin.
Fourth, there are times when you must fast and pray to overcome sin. Darius didn’t just pray, but he also fasted. If you are truly serious about overcoming your sin, then you must be willing to fast to get God’s help. Fasting is a complete denial of the flesh and a total submission to God to prove your seriousness to God that you need Him to step in. You will never overcome your besetting sin until you are this serious about overcoming it.
How serious are you about changing the areas where you are displeased with yourself? What are you doing to change these areas? These four actions are necessary to change any area in which you are displeased with yourself. Start the change today by taking these steps of action.