NICOLE STEVENSON | Co-Host, Former Adventist Podcast |
Yesterday, just before recording the Former Adventist Podcast with Richard and Colleen Tinker, we learned that President Donald Trump had deployed military planes to the Middle East. After we paused to process what this might mean for the U.S.A., Richard shared that he’d recently asked the Former Adventist Fellowship Bible study group: “How are you able to live without fear during times like these?” It was a timely question! I considered how I might answer the question, and my mind went immediately to the book of Daniel.
As an Adventist, I thought the most important thing about Daniel was what it said about “the time of trouble.” I avoided it, convinced I wasn’t smart enough to understand it. I left Daniel to “the scholars,” and as a result, I stayed trapped in anxiety about end-time events—fearful of what might be required of me if I had to live through them.
As a Christ-follower now, I believe that the most important thing about the book of Daniel is what it tells us about God. To be sure, it shows us what it looks like to live trusting God and remaining faithful to Him during tumultuous times. Yet, the faithfulness displayed in Daniel was rooted not in the determined will of man, but in what God had revealed to Daniel and his companions about who He is. Their knowledge of God sustained them and gave them great boldness before world leaders.
Trusting In the Face of Loss
What Daniel knew about God kept him trusting and glorifying Him even in the face of danger and loss. Daniel lived through exile, political upheaval, the lion’s den, regime change, and the constant threat of death. But Daniel’s life wasn’t ruled by fear—it was ruled by faith in the Most High God, “who removes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2:21).
In the midst of all he faced, we never see Daniel panic. He knew who ruled Babylon, and it wasn’t Nebuchadnezzar or Darius. It was God Himself.God showed Daniel (and shows us through His Word) that He doesn’t just allow history—He authors it. God isn’t reacting, He is reigning.
The same God who ruled Babylon still rules today. He isn’t surprised by what is happening in the world. He isn’t surprised by the wars or the rumors of wars all around us. God isn’t surprised by world events because He isn’t waiting to see what happens. He already knows. God has decreed our days and holds the future.
If you are in Christ, your future is not tied to the rise and fall of nations, but to the God who writes history before it happens. Believers are not at the mercy of the world’s chaos—we’re held by the same God who shut lions’ mouths and who revealed dreams so that we can know today that He is in control of it all.
God, in His divine providence, is in control of all world events (Isaiah 46:9–10; Daniel 2:21; Romans 8:28). Even chaos is under His control. History is unfolding according to God’s plan, and it will culminate in the return of Christ as the conquering King who will judge evil men for their deeds. All of history is moving toward that very moment.
The Bible teaches that those who are in Christ are eternally secure (John 10:28,29). This fact doesn’t mean that we ignore the world on fire around us, but it does mean that we face it with hope and that we get to work sharing the gospel that saved us with those who remain lost and without hope. When the world panics, we must preach.
So, how do I live without fear during times of tumult? Well, I believe that fear is an inevitability on this side of eternity. Experiencing fear is not evidence that we aren’t holy enough; it’s evidence that we are human. The privilege of the born again believer isn’t that we never feel afraid, it’s that we know the One who transforms that fear into trust and peace as we remember who He is.
So when I face fear or uncertainty, I set my eyes on the character of God and return again to what I learned about Him in the book of Daniel and what I now see spread across the pages of all of Scripture in new ways— He is in control from beginning to end.†
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