God gave Daniel a number of alarming visions. They left him confused and exhausted, and he felt sick for many days. The future was full of questions and threats, but things became clearer as he studied the prophecy of Jeremiah and reflected on the past. Everything that had happened had been the result of the unfaithfulness of God’s people. God had loved his people and wonderfully provided for them, but they had consistently disobeyed him and gone their own way. Daniel recognised that God was the complete opposite of his people. Their consistent unfaithfulness was matched by God’s constant faithfulness. God could always be trusted to keep his word because it was based upon a covenant. Throughout the whole of the Bible, we discover the importance of covenant. It is similar to the word ‘contract’ because there are two sides to the covenant. On one side is God, and on the other is humankind. In the Old Testament, we see God making covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel and David, and then in the New Testament we see a New Covenant established through Jesus’ death on the cross.

In life, we continually need to question whether organisations can be trusted, whether we are looking at a bank, a plumber, a garage or a network provider. There are many different ways to investigate this. We can look on the internet or talk to friends. Just because an organisation makes bold claims, it doesn’t mean they will do a good job. We need people who can be trusted. What a relief that we can come to God and know he will never let us down. We can lean on him knowing that he will keep his side of the covenant, whatever happens.

The question is: will we be faithful? Will we stand firm, whatever the circumstances? Daniel gives us a remarkable example of someone who stood firm for God at an extremely challenging time.

What encouragement do you draw from the fact that God is absolutely faithful?

Lord God, I thank you for your great faithfulness, which is new every morning. Amen