Prayer or Panic?

I've spent more time in an arcade in my fifties than I ever did in my teens. Grandchildren and our special boy have dictated we be a little more flexible in the things for which we budget our money and our time. Gaming and skee ball have never really been my thing, but during our latest outing, I stood and watched jealously as my husband and our bevy of kids enjoyed a simulated runaway train ride. The images on the screen took you into tunnels and across broken tracks while the seats shook and jerked, giving the illusion you were really in danger. Just to the end of the control panel was a big red button printed with the word STOP. A panic button of sorts. If you were feeling ill or the having some sort of reaction, you could hit the button and the ride would immediately stop. Makes sense, I thought. But it occurred to me that panic buttons only work with the things we can control, machines or games. Panic buttons rarely work in real life. Have you ever faced down a giant? Maybe not, but good luck finding the panic button as his shadow looms over your teeny-tiny frame. Have you ever spent the night in a cave full of hungry lions? I would imagine a family room full of teenage boys might be closest. No amount of panic is going to put an end to their growling stomachs. My point is, when I look at some of the most unjustly persecuted, vulnerable, ordinary people in the Bible --and some since --I am amazed at their response to danger.

1 Samuel 17. Here was David, the youngest boy in his family, out delivering food to his brothers, when he hears the taunts of the Philistine giant, Goliath. David is gob smacked! Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And why are the armies of Israel doing nothing about it? David approaches the giant with his sling and a few stones in his hand and the boldness of a man of God (1 Samuel 18:28) in his heart (and on his lips. I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands. And it was so. While others panicked, David prayed.

Daniel 6. Daniel had been kidnapped and taken away to Babylon. The king wanted to make him and his friends into his little proteges. The young men respectfully declined. They would not deny the God of Israel. A decree was written that prayer to anyone but the king was forbidden; violators would be cast into a lions' den. Daniel prayed. Some jealous onlookers turned him in. Daniel prayed. Much to the king's dismay, his hand was forced, and the penalty was applied. Daniel prayed. Did the lions pace? Did their stomachs growl? Daniel prayed. In the morning, the king was so relieved to find Daniel alive and so grateful to the God who had saved him, King Darius threw those tattle-tales to the lions and praised the Lord! While the king panicked, Daniel prayed.

And upon facing the humiliation and excruciating pain before Him, Jesus came to a garden, "fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'” While His friends panicked and fled, Jesus prayed.

Wow! What courage! What remarkable faith! What incredible obedience! We can marvel all day long, but the Bible tells us, these things were recorded that we might know who Jesus is, that we might have life in His name, learn, receive patience and comfort, have hope, be forewarned, and correct our own behavior that we might withstand these times. These things were written that we imitate, that we obey rather than argue, that we submit rather than challenge, that we learn rather than be merely entertained, that we go forth in boldness rather than cower in fear, that we pray rather than panic. What would have happened had panic been the response? Panic never downed a giant. Panic never shut the mouths of lions. Panic never gave birth to one eternal life. 

Details have changed, but mankind has not; and God's admonition that we trust Him rings through the ages as trustworthy and victorious. We are to do through prayer and obedience --the only response that truly works --and leave the panic at the arcade.