When Lions Surround You: Finding Peace in a World Gone Crazy

Wars, deceit, corruption, and chaos — it’s easy to feel powerless in today’s world. But what if the key to peace isn’t changing the storm, but controlling your faith and your heart?

In this episode of Saved Not Soft, we dive into Daniel’s story in the lions’ den and uncover how he remained unshakable in the face of danger. Through scripture, real-life examples, and actionable insight, you’ll discover how to anchor your mind in God’s truth, replace fear with faith, and step boldly into the life He’s calling you to — even when everything around you seems out of control.

Tune in and learn how to stand firm, rise above the chaos, and walk in the power of God’s unshakable peace.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey friends, welcome back to Holy Not Harmless, a podcast for women. I've got some big news. You are in the right place. Don't worry. What was once safe, not soft, is now Holy Not Harmless, a podcast for bold faith and real conversations. Why the change, you ask? Well, honestly, I really wanted the name to fully reflect what this podcast is about. And that's courageous, honest conversations about faith, about life, and impact. This show is not about being quiet or safe. It's really about being bold, real, and unapologetic in your faith and in your calling. So everything that you've loved about the show, don't worry, the insights, the story, the real talk, it's still here. The only difference is now the name is going to match the heart of the mission. And I can't wait for you to continue this journey with me under this new name. And I just want to take a moment to just shout out, you know, my listeners, if you've been here since day one or if you just got here today, I see you, I support you, and I'm so blessed for this opportunity to show up and just serve, right? This is your call. Okay. This is your call to stand firm. And today we're going to talk about how to stop letting fear, headlines, and chaos dictate your heart, how to stop shrinking or reacting to everything around you. Okay. Because we talk about real stuff here. And so I had to make an episode about like the tension, the storms, and really the moments when trusting God is not comfortable. It's not cute. It's not easy, but it's powerful and it's freeing. And it's the path to becoming the woman you know you were called to be, even when the world feels like it's spinning out of control. So today, this podcast is what to do when lines surround you, how to find peace in a world that has gone crazy. Okay. Let's get into it. I'm sure as soon as you wake up, you open your phone, you turn on the TV, everywhere you look, there's chaos going on right now, right? There's wars breaking out. We got leaders deceiving the people, social unrest, and corruption in high places. And everything's kind of just like screaming at you, right? The headlines are screaming at you. We got social media, which fuels anxiety even more. And, you know, people talking about this, people talking about that. It's the end, it's the beginning, it's this, it's that. Sometimes it can leave you feeling powerless. Am I right or am I right? When you have like fear and doubt and frustration like start to creep in like that, sometimes you wonder like, how can I live faithfully? You know, how can I make a difference when everything feels so broken? If you've asked yourself that, I want you to know the enemy loves this. He loves when you ask these questions and you start doubting because he wants you to be frozen, he wants you to be anxious and feel defeated because when you don't believe, you cannot achieve. Okay. But God doesn't call us to be paralyzed, he calls us to stand firm even in the midst of chaos. And today we're gonna talk about Daniel in the lion's den and how he was able to stand firm even in chaos, and we're gonna learn from him and we're gonna apply it so that we can go about our week empowered, walking strong with our heads held high, and continuing in our purpose. So let's get into it. I know a lot of people like to say, like, you know, today is crazy, what's going on in the world today is crazy, but I don't I don't know if this stuff is new, right? I feel like the world has been crazy. It's just we're more exposed to what's going on. So it feels like more is going on. But if you want to be real, today is actually the most safe, the most safest the world has ever been, like in all time, right? I know it sounds crazy and it seems like it's going backwards. And of course, with things like news and stuff like that, news is meant to be negative. Okay. People naturally focus on negative things. And so when there's negative stuff going on your screen all the time, they know psychologically you're gonna be peeled to it. You're gonna be watching it. They know that they can use fear to control you, to keep you paralyzed. And that's exactly what they do. And so we need to understand this, and sometimes we need to just quite frankly cut it out, cut it off, and turn it off. Like myself, I don't watch the news. I don't watch the news at all. Not because I'm I'm not, I don't care or I don't want to be informed. I always say that, trust me, if it's important, I'll know what's going on. Because I mean, we have phones these days where news just pops up, right? Whether you want to see it or not, it will find you. So there's always people talking about this and that. So really, I'm not worried about missing something. But the reason why I don't watch the news is because I know it's negative. I know it's not helpful. And me, I'm an overthinker, right? So if I let myself go into the news, first of all, I'm wasting my day focusing on something that I can't control at all. What I can control is myself. What I can control is my focus, what I put into my mind, what I put into my soul, and what I put out into the world, right? Sitting down and watching something and getting emotional and then like posting about it is not gonna make a difference in the world. Getting mad about it, getting sad about it is not gonna make the difference if you do not use that emotion to go do something about it in your life. Now, you might not be able to change the world. You know, it's it's very rare that someone will come along and change the world. And I think a lot of times what we don't realize is yeah, those big people like Gandhi, like Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, whoever, those people are the people that were recognized. But before those people, many other people that went unnoticed, went unrecognized, their whole life was dedicated to that purpose. We will never hear about. But if those people didn't fulfill what they were supposed to do, guess what? There would be no space for those big leaders that you heard about. Those ones are like, those people are like the tip of the iceberg, right? If you know about an iceberg, like the bottom is way bigger. You only see the top. And so I want you to remember that, right? You might not be able to change the world, but if you can make a difference in yourself and you can show up and do your best and serve who God has called you to serve, guess what? You will have made a difference. You will have made a difference. It might not be worldly, but I like to think of it as like a race, right? In the race, we're passing the baton. And in your lifetime, that is your goal to move forward, to run, and to pass that baton to the next generation, right? Break through the curses, break through what's holding you back and pass that baton forward so the other person can take it and run with it and do the same thing, right? That's the goal. And so we can't do that if we're distracted, if we're sitting down paralyzed, and if we're so focused on what's going on across the world. Let's let's get into the story of Daniel and see, you know, how we can apply it. Okay. Just like us right now, Daniel lived under a corrupt empire. Okay. It was a world full of scheming leaders. There was deception, and there was people in power that were trying to manipulate for their own gain, right? Very familiar to what's going on today. And one day, some men tricked the king into signing a law that was actually designed to trap Daniel and get him killed, right? It was like you can't pray. Right? They literally, simply just because he refused to compromise on his faith, right? So he actually faced real danger, right? The odds were definitely stacked against him. And if you were Daniel, you'd feel terrified too. But what we can learn from Daniel is he didn't react out of fear, right? He didn't try to negotiate, compromise, or manipulate the situation. Instead, he controlled what he could control, which is what? His faith and his heart. He prayed and he trusted God. And when he was thrown into that lion's den, God showed up and protected him. So what can we learn from that? You can't control the chaos around you. You cannot control the world, the wars going on, the deceit and the corruption. But you can control your response in your faith and your heart. And that is where the true power lives. We gotta let God be God, right? I think we overwork and overworry ourselves trying to be God. Don't focus on what you cannot control. That is for God to do, right? When it's out of your hands, that's on Him. Control what is in your hands, control what He's given you. Have good stewardship over what's in front of you. Because a lot of times, like I said, it's a distraction. We're looking way over there whole time. Our current situation is a mess, right? But but we're so focused on over there that that we're not even focused on, hey, wow, I have some things that I can change right here in front of me. It might be your household, it might be with your business, it might be with your ministry, it might be with your own character, right? Let's get into some scripture. In Isaiah verse 26, 3, it says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. What does this mean? True peace, it actually comes when your thoughts are anchored around God. Okay, you're not gonna get peace from headlines or social media or the schemes of people in power. You get to choose where your mind is is the first step in controlling the chaos. That choice is yours. You can choose to center your mind on Christ. And so instead of letting the news cycles dominate your thoughts before you even wake up, before you even touch a screen, fix your mind on God's character and his promises. Open your Bible, right? Going to church, being in the community, and learning from others is great, but you must open your Bible for yourself. You gotta learn the word for yourself because everyone has different convictions, everyone has different messages in which God will reveal to them. But he can only reveal that to you if you're getting into the word, right? So I would say to everyone, if you haven't studied the Bible for yourself, start studying the Bible, right? Because that is what's gonna give you that peace and help you to focus your mind. It's gonna reveal things to you, right? Sometimes that looks like praise and worship, right? By putting on some worship music. Um, sometimes that looks like prayer. There's so many different ways that we can do that. But I would recommend the first thing that you do in the morning is fix your mind on God. Okay, let his faithfulness be louder than the fear around you. In Philippians chapter four, verse six and seven, it says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God, and the peace of God shall keep your hearts and your mind through Christ Jesus. You cannot make your anxiety disappear by ignoring it, right? It's actually replaced when you turn worries into prayers and then pair them with gratitude. So doing that, it trains your heart to focus on God's control instead of the chaos. So whenever you're feeling, you know, down or dismayed because of you see all this corruption, lies, injustice, and your heart wants to panic, write it down. Write it down exactly how you feel. Pray over it, and then thank God in advance for his protection and provision in your life. This is where you can start to rise. Right. The last scripture that I want to take a look at is Psalms chapters chapter 46, verse 1 to 2. And it says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear thou the earth be removed, though the earth be removed. So even when the world shakes, even when there's war, even when leaders fail, God is gonna be our safe place, right? Fear doesn't have to dominate because your refuge and your strength is bigger than the chaos around you, right? God is bigger than it all. He knows exactly what's going on, right? He knows how you feel. All he's looking for is for you to invite him into the space so he can give you that empowerment, he can give you that peace. But when you're trying to control it on your own, you're trying to do all these things and you know, you're full of anxiety, that's not where a place that the Holy Spirit is gonna dwell, right? The Holy Spirit, you have to invite it into a place with intention, right? I'm not saying you're never gonna be anxiety-ridden. I'm not saying you're never gonna be fear, but we do have a choice, just like Daniel did, right? When he was in that lion's den, he chose to pray and just keep his mind on God. And he knew without a doubt that God would have his back. And he did. He did. And as soon as he came out and they put the other people in there, those lions devoured those people, right? Because they weren't about that, they weren't about that like Daniel was, and so we gotta be like Daniel. Now, like I said before, I know it seems like the world is like the most negative place right now, like it's the worst place, right? But I also want you got you to focus on the good things, right? There's no good news out there that they really spread. I always said, like, if I ever had a news channel, my channel would be just about good news and positive things only, right? Way better. So I want to just share a couple things with you guys that that might lift your spirits because Christianity is growing globally, okay? It's growing a lot, and it it's actually very encouraging, not just, you know, the religion, but just the power of faith. You know, I don't know if you guys notice it going on, but there's like a revival going on. More and more people are coming to God. Even younger people, you know, the Gen Z is actually going to church more through social media. We're more connected than ever. The apps and stuff that they use, like Bible apps, they're actually growing massively, right? I think they said like the Bible app new version has is at almost 1 billion downloads today. So even like in challenging cultural climate, climates like this, you know, we are connecting as believers. We are inspiring and we still have impact like the world has never seen. And sometimes, you know, it takes times like this for people to come to God. You know, a many stories I've heard many over time and time again. People come to God in times of crisis, when they feel like everything's falling apart, when they feel like they've tried everything else, when they've gone to everyone else, that is when they come. So just have faith in God's plan, right? Of everything that's going on. He's not gonna take us through anything just because, you know, everything he does has an intention and it's part of his plan. So sometimes things gotta get ugly before they get pretty. Sometimes you gotta go through rough times to see the beauty, just like a diamond, right? As we go about our beak, I don't know what's going on with me this episode. My um words are just getting tripped up. Our beak. No, as we go about our week, I want you guys to keep your mind on Daniel and and use him as an example, you know, how he controlled his faith in his heart, because you can do the same thing today. Okay, I'm gonna give you some simple steps on how to do that. Number one, choose your focus. Like I said, each morning, let this be the first thing you do. Even if you have to get up five minutes earlier, do it. I'm telling you, since I've implemented this into my life, things have changed for me dramatically. Dramatically, right? Not just everything, you know, my anger, my sadness, my happiness, my joy, you know, it seems like things slow down a little bit, right? And and you have more awareness to choose how you want to show up versus just react, react, react, react, right? You're living proactively versus reactively. And so get up each morning and pick a scripture. You know, use one of the three that we went through today, either Isaiah 26, 3, Philippians 4, 6, or Psalms 46. Even if you have another one that really, you know, encourages you and lifts you up, read it, write it down and speak it out loud and let that anchor your mind and heart for the day, right? Focus on that one thing for the day. And when fear hits, because it will, write it down. You know, don't let it just have power over you. Write it down and pray over it and then hand it to God. Really hand it to God. He's telling us, he tells us, give it to him. So do that. And include also one thing that you're grateful for, right? Because an act of faith, that is what really strengthens your heart. Third step, take one small step in faith. You know, even if it's tiny steps, when you start speaking truth or loving your neighbor or standing for integrity, all those things matter. Start acting in alignment with God's truth rather than reacting in fear, right? Let's let's act within his truth. Even if it feels funny or it feels different at first, doesn't matter. He is the one that cannot lie. So anything that he says, it's true. And you can rely on that, right? Even if you don't feel like it, know that God got your back. Okay? He will fill your gaps. Let it be known through prayer and supplication. And then the last one, declare God's power. Really, if you if you have to say it out loud. God, you are my refuge. I trust you. I will not fear. And just let your voice really reinforce your faith. Okay? Start with just one prayer or one declaration, one small step, and then let God handle the rest. Do what you can to make a difference, to be your best version of yourself. Because if we can be the best version of ourselves in this life, we will have been accomplished. We will have made this world a better place. Because everybody that we come across, everybody that we serve, everybody that anybody that we cross paths with, they will have gotten the best version of ourselves. And how much better is that than just giving whatever is left over, right? The world may rage, but guess what? Your faith is unshakable when it's anchored in him. And I want you to remember that. I'm gonna close in prayer and I'm gonna wish you well on your week ahead. And I want you to just remember fear does not run the show, God runs the show. Father God, thank you that you are still in control, even when the world feels like it's falling apart. Help us to Fix our minds on you, to turn our worries into prayers, and to trust your perfect plan. Guard our hearts and minds with your peace, strengthen us in our weakness, and remind us that your power is greater than any fear, any lie, any leader, or any crisis. Teach us to walk boldly in faith, not fear, today and every day. In Jesus' name, amen. You got this, my friends. You can rely on the promises of God. Remember, Daniel, as you go upon your week and be empowered by the power that God has given you, right? I wish you well, and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode. And don't forget the prayer line is open. If you have any prayer requests, any wins, any insights you want to share, please, I want to hear from you. And in the next episode, I have some really exciting news for you guys as I will be looking to bring on some new speakers. And so I'm excited to share that with you and more wins. All right. Have a great week.