Military Devotion – When Faith Makes You Stand Out – October 23, 2026

Dan worked for the government. Dan was a believer in the one true God. Dan enjoyed the free exercise of his faith in the one true God under this government. One day the government decided to change its policy about the free exercise of one’s religious beliefs. What did Dan do? He went home and prayed, giving thanks to God. Dan asked God for his help in this situation.  

Dan had fellow government employees who did not like him very much because he was a believer in the one true God. They spied on Dan and witnessed him violating the new government policy. They went to their supreme leader and ratted Dan out. Dan was slated for execution because of what he had done.  

Dan’s story might sound familiar to some of you, because it is the story of Daniel in the book that bears his name. I’d encourage you to read Daniel chapter 6 today, because Dan’s story is very much like yours.  

As a war fighter, you are an employee of the federal government. Our constitution protects the free exercise of your religious beliefs. Military chaplains exist to protect the free exercise of all religions within the United States military. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of their religious beliefs and practices.  

But you and I know that it is not always easy to be faithful. When you are the only one who requests religious accommodation, and you stand out because you are “special,” when you are the one who bows your head in prayer before every meal, when you are the one who has the Bible or this blue devotion book on your desk in your room or your office or in the barracks, when you are the one who reads that Bible or devotion book, when you are the one who does not embody the “work hard–play hard” mentality, you might feel like Daniel. 

And do you feel some guilt for those times that you have not lived as Daniel did? But God has made some promises to you. And he gives us the story of Daniel to show us the kind of God that he is for us when it is difficult to live as Christians.  

Dan was slated for execution by being thrown into a den of hungry lions. But God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and preserved Daniel’s life.  

God never promised Daniel that he would rescue him in that way. But he had made a promise to Daniel “never to leave [him] or forsake [him]” (Deuteronomy 31:8). God had promised to always be Daniel’s Savior. He had promised Daniel that eternal life was his. And Daniel trusted those promises.   

Jesus has made promises to you. About those times when you stand up and say something about the truth of the Scriptures, “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” And then Jesus promised, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:19-20, 22).  

Stand firm even when it is not easy to do so. For it is Jesus who causes you to stand firm in him and his promises.