God’s Pursuit is Stronger than our Mistakes - August 23, 2026

Daniel chapter 6, verse 1.

Daniel 6:1

It says, It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom.

And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, and the princes might give account unto them, and the king should have no damage.

Then Daniel was preferred above the presidents and the princes because an excellent spirit was in him.

And in the king thought to set, and then the king, and then sorry, and the kings thought to set him over the whole realm.

Then the presidents and the princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find none occasions nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

Then he said to them, or these men, then he said to these men, We shall not find any occasion against these this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of God.

Then these presidents and the princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto them, or unto him, King Darius, live forever.

All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statue and to make a firm decree that whoever or whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or any or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which altereth not.

Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into the house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before God, his God, as he did aforetime.

Then these men assembled, found Daniel praying and making supplication before God, before his God.

Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree, hath thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save O thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

The king answered and said, The thing this the thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

Then answered they and said before the king that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Then the king, when he had heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, Now, or know, O king, that the law of the Medes and the Persians is no decree nor statue which the king established may be changed.

Then the king commanded, they brought Daniel and cast him in the lion's den, or den of lions.

Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his Lord, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, neither with instrument of music brought before him, and his sleep went from him.

Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions.

And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel, and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

And said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever.

My God hath sent his angels and hath shut the lion's mouth, that they have not hurt me.

For as much as before him innocency was found in me.

And also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.

So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no and no manner of hurt was found in him because he believed in his God.

And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives, and the lions had mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces, or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Then King Darius wrote all the people, nations, and languages that dwelt in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you.

I make a decree that every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and steadfast forever, and his king, that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

He delivereth and rescues, and he worketh signs of wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel the power of the lions.

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Oh Father God, thank you, Lord.

Thank you for this wonderful, wonderful text.

Thank you for the story, the event, the miraculous miracle that took place, Lord.

Lord, you ministered to multiple people through this passage, Lord.

And we just ask you, Lord, that you minister to us today.

We love you, we thank you, we give you this time in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, in this passage, we see all kinds of stuff happening.

Um, and a lot of us will look at this passage and we'll think of Daniel and how gr how great Daniel is and how how uh encouraging it is to see someone living by faith in such a way that he can he can go through these trials and and take the hardship and never deny God and be that example where he never denies God.

Doesn't matter if he's going to lion's inn, it doesn't matter if he's going into the into the fire.

He was pulled away from his family, he was into this wicked world, and he stayed steadfast and unmovable on the foundation of God.

We see that, we see the story that that helps uh other people when they see this event, they look at it and they go, Oh my gosh, what a miracle.

But we also have to consider who was in the room.

There was a guy that said they said his name was Darius, king of the mer or the uh Medes.

Now, it doesn't, the Bible doesn't say a whole lot about Darius.

Now, some people say that Darius is a throne name for King Cyrus.

But it never really confirms.

All we know is that Daniel prospered until the third year of Cyrus.

And so we try to we're trying to figure out where this story lands in the timeline.

Now there's a verse at the end, verse 28.

It says, so this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

But the the Hebrew word there for and for the uh for and in is Ava, which could be in this is.

So if we take that word, this is, and we put it there instead of and we have so the so Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius.

This is the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

So if we run it concurrently and not consecutively, the timeline, we see that Daniel is in the timeline of Cyrus.

2 Chronicles 36, 22 through 23 says, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, which would have been right now, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the Persian.

Now, I don't know about you, but watching somebody go into the den of lions and survive, that would stir something up in me.

Amen?

There's many accounts that we can look at from famous people that God stirred up in their heart.

C.S.

Lewis tried to reason his way away from God, but God pursued him.

Lewis Zamparini survived war, suffering, addiction, and anger, but God pursued him.

John Newton ran from God and lived a life completely contrary to him, but God pursued him.

Lee Strobel set out to disprove Christianity, but God pursued him.

Alice Cooper had fame, money, drugs, and everything the world said should satisfy him, but God pursued him.

Brian Head Welsh had success and fame, but his life was falling apart.

And God pursued him.

Today I want to give you a message.

God's pursuit is stronger than our mistakes.

And as we look at this story, we can't help to look at Darius and say, what was God doing in his life?

There are many things that we that we see when we see Darius and his relationship with Daniel.

We see that he had a heart for Daniel, but he didn't really understand that Daniel represents a bigger, a bigger God.

He didn't want to see Daniel.

There was something in Daniel that inspired Darius.

That Darius would stay up all night fasting and worried and sick.

There was something, there was an excellent spirit inside of Daniel that drove Darius to think about these things continually.

And I think little did Darius know that God was pursuing him.

God was pursuing him because God's plan is way bigger than our plans.

We never know what God's doing in our lives.

We never know what God's doing in someone else's life.

When God's pursuing you, he will never give up.

There is no mistake that you can make.

There's nobody that you can throw in the lion's den.

There's no one you can throw into the fire that will keep God from stopping to pursue you.

He will continue to pursue you until he gets you where he wants you to be.

And every time that's going to be at the foot of the cross.

That's going to be in your own, you're going to be at the end of yourself so he can be magnified.

I believe that God used these events in Daniel chapter 6 to stir up something in Cyrus or Darius.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

You guys can study this out.

Pastor, what do you think?

I'm going to ask you.

You think it's, yeah, it's a you think Cyrus is Daniel or Darius?

Okay.

Alright.

I'm going to yield to Pastor.

It will be two different kings, but in the same timeline.

So I think he was stirring up something in the heart of Darius.

Maybe then reflecting in his life.

Stirring up something that would be something greater.

And that's to rebuild the temple.

So, church, what is God stirring up in your heart this morning?

My goal today is simply to remind you that God's pursuit is stronger than your mistakes, no matter what you're going through.

No matter what challenges you're facing.

No matter how many times you've doubted him, denied him, dug yourself into a hole, or simply dropped the ball, God has not given up on you.

Your mistakes may be great, but his grace is greater.

Your failures may be many, but his pursuit is stronger.

And if God is stirring something up in your heart this morning, don't ignore it.

Respond to him.

Let's look at three ways God pursues us.

I want to tell you guys, God pursues us through faithful witnesses.

What is a witness?

It's someone who testifies of the goodness of God.

A faithful witness isn't someone who just says they love God, but someone who shows it.

And Daniel was a faithful witness in this story.

Daniel stood by what God wanted him to do.

And that's why Paul tells Timothy, let no man despise thy youth, but be but thou but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity and spirit, in faith, in purity.

Be an example.

Be a faithful witness.

When Darius appointed Daniel over 120 princes, it wasn't for the same reason, or it was for the same reason that Nebuchadnezzar appointed him over his officers.

They saw something that they never seen before.

It was an excellent spirit.

It was something that only God can show through somebody.

God was shining through him.

He was wise, he was humble, he was always willing to help, but Daniel wasn't just that to those things or to those people around him.

He also showed an unwavering commitment to serve God, even if it cost his life.

Look, church, you and I might have someone in our lives right now that's a faithful witness to you.

There's something about that person you just can't get enough of.

You want them around you.

You have identified that something is different in them.

They love you unconditionally.

They don't chastise you, they don't put you down, they don't make you feel shameful.

They have something inside of them, they have the Spirit of God in them, and they want to see good for your life.

Jesus is using them to point you to Himself.

One man says, you will find what you look for in people and in the world.

If you are loving, you will find love.

If you seek beauty, you will see beauty.

If you pursue goodness, you will receive goodness.

What you are inside will attract the same from the outside.

When you love, love comes to you.

When you hate, hate finds you.

If you're looking for the Lord, he's putting people in in your life every single day to draw you closer to him.

If you're looking for something else, you will ignore those faithful witnesses and you will put your attention on something else.

Remember, God is victorious, he is one, he's already beat the devil, he's taken the keys from hell, he has snatched them up, but you still have a choice.

You can identify with uh with eternity and with God, or you could take your eyes off him.

Faithful witnesses will draw us closer to him.

And I believe he did that for Darius.

We also see God pursues us even when we deny him.

King Darius knew that there was something special about Daniel.

He knew he made a mistake.

He had denied what God had placed right in front of him.

And because Darius, Darius's eyes were fixed on his kingdom and not God's kingdom, he saw no value in risking his reputation.

He liked Daniel.

Right?

But Daniel wasn't important enough to risk his position.

But yet, God didn't even didn't give up on Darius.

Right?

He pursued him by convicting him.

That's why when you guys, when you feel like you've done something and it's it's hard to wrestle with, listen, God is not here to punish you.

The punishment is on the cross.

Amen?

He's here to correct us.

He's here to love on us.

And correction comes with hope.

Right?

Is going to guide us towards him.

And there's always a way out, there's always an answer.

And it's always Jesus.

So when there's conviction in our heart, it's a good thing.

He was convicting Darius of who he was and what and who Daniel represented.

You see, when we reject God's faithful ministers, we are rejecting God.

How many times has God sent someone your way to minister to you?

To be a blessing, to speak life into you, to speak life into your marriage, to speak life into your parenting, and we've pushed them away.

We say, back away, God, it's too hard.

I've done too much.

There's too much shame and guilt and pain inside of me.

There's nothing you can do for me, God.

That's how we push him away.

But God didn't leave Darius there.

He kept pursuing him.

Here's something I see from people like Darius who don't have a relationship with God.

Darius was more worried about Daniel and his well-being and what he did to Daniel instead of thinking about what he did to God.

There's so much more power in knowing that we're loving on God and God's loving on us.

We're hurting God.

We're hurting his heart.

There's so much more power in having that personal relationship with the Lord.

If we start trying to please everybody out here, we're going to be like Darius.

We're not going to know who we're serving.

Daniel knew who he was serving.

Darius was getting a glimpse of it, but he didn't have that firm foundation to have that personal relationship, to see the miracles in his own life take place.

If we focus on a relationship with God, we won't have to go around worrying about other people we hurt.

When we do make a mistake, we have faith that God will figure it all out.

Right?

So God's pursuit in your denial is a pursuit to convict so deep that it compels us to have a deeper relationship with Him.

You know, when I was thinking about and praying about and going to school to do whatever God called me to do, which I didn't know at the time.

It was 2021.

I had no idea.

I knew that I was going to preach.

I knew I was going to be a leader in a ministry or whatever that looked like.

And then God placed on my heart to plant a church.

And so Pastor and I went around San Diego, went around town, and we prayed over areas.

And it had been like maybe a year or so.

And God just was not speaking to me.

I just didn't feel at peace with anywhere.

So I said, all right, God, well, I guess I'm just I'm just not going to plant a church.

You just didn't call me to plant a church.

And for like six months, I struggled.

Like I was thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts.

I was struggling with my relationships.

I was having a really hard time connecting with the Lord.

I would pray, Lord, please help me.

It was all about me.

It was all about my feelings.

Help me, Lord.

Why am I struggling?

And one day I turned that prayer around and I said, Lord, how did I hurt you?

How can I minister to you, Lord?

What can I do?

And he put this verse on my heart.

Revelations 2, 4 through 5.

He says, Nevertheless, I have someone against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Remember therefore, for whence thou art fallen, and repent.

And do the first works.

Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove the candlestick out of thy place, except thou repent.

I knew right then I was called to plant a church, and I had pushed back against God.

And he was asking for my life.

And he was telling me to repent from running from him, denying him, denying all the faithful people that he put into my life.

He kept pursuing me.

He didn't give up on me in those quiet times.

That's why it's so important to get on your knees and pray and say, God, what do you want from me?

Clean my heart, Lord.

Because he wants to speak to you in those quiet times.

Corporate prayer is good, but you need the quiet times in the closet on your knees.

You need your Bible open.

You need to be reading the Word of God and asking for, Lord, please clean my heart.

Show me, Lord.

And He will pursue you, He will show you.

It's not about all the good stuff that we can do.

It's not about fixing our lives.

It's allowing Him to work through us.

Another thing I see is God pursues us through our through unexplained miracles.

Sometimes we think the miracles are for the person that receives them.

And if someone's healed, we think that miracle is just for them.

If someone survived something, they should uh they shouldn't have survived.

We think it would the miracle is just for them.

But miracles don't just change the person who experienced them, they impact the witnesses around them.

And Darius, he he saw this miracle.

And God certainly delivered Daniel for Daniel's sake, but God was only doing something in the heart of Darius.

Darius had already seen Daniel's excellent spirit.

He had seen a faithful witness with integrity.

But when Daniel came out of the lion's den alive, Darius saw something he could not even explain.

The miracle gave Darius the courage to proclaim the goodness and the power of Daniel's God.

Sometimes God allows us to go through something difficult because someone else needs to see what God can do through your life.

You and I have witnessed miracles after miracle, day after day.

May not be the miraculous saving from a lion or a miraculous healing.

But every day you have clothes, you have food, you have relationships.

God's putting faithful people in your life.

He's given you a church, he's given you groups, he's given you community, and he is pursuing you every single minute of the day.

And he won't give up.

My encouragement to you in this is to find that community where God can speak to you.

Get in the community where God can show you where the miracles are happening.

We have to get close to the people of God to experience these miracles.

They don't just happen.

You can't be in a wicked place doing wicked things, living life of rebellion, and see God's hand on your life.

You got to go where God is.

Get in with the Spirit.

Help people see who God is through your life.

I don't know where you find yourself in this story.

Maybe you identify with Daniel, you have found everything you need in Christ, and you have full confidence that he will deliver you.

They can take me away from my family, they can throw me into the fiery furnace, they can even throw me in the lion's den.

And I still have confidence that God is with me.

Maybe you find yourself there.

But I'm convinced that many of us identify with Darius.

We spend much of our lives facing the pressures and expectations of culture.

Sometimes we give in, we make decisions that we regret, we push away the people God has placed in our lives, and sometimes even push God away.

But because of God's love and his pursuit of us, he gives us another opportunity to turn to him.

I believe Daniel chapter 6 gives us a clear picture of what Christ did for us.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

Daniel, like Jesus, faced the rejection and was misunderstood because of who he was.

Daniel, like Jesus, was sentenced to death by a ruler who gave in to cultural pressure.

But while Daniel was spared from death, Jesus was not.

God delivered Daniel from the lion's den, allowing Darius and others to witness the power of God.

But God had much greater plans for Jesus.

Jesus went to death and rose again, not simply to inspire a king to rebuild the temple, but to accomplish the ultimate plan of salvation to all who believe in his name.

As we think about the struggles with sin, the mistakes, and the times we've given in to the pressure around us, maybe today you realize that you are more like Darius than Daniel.

I know I am.

You've made decisions you regret.

You've tried to do things your own way.

Maybe you've even known the truth about God, but you've never completely surrendered your life to him.

Here's the good news.

God is still pursuing you.

Maybe this morning you're faced with a second chance.

Maybe God has brought you here so that He can show you who He is.

And the God of Daniel is real, He is powerful, and He is worthy of your trust.

But unlike Darius, you don't have to look into an empty lion's den.

You can look into an empty tomb.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and he was buried, and on three days later he rose again.

He conquered death that you and I deserve so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life.

So the question this morning isn't whether God is pursuing you, the question is, how are you respond to his pursuit?

You may need to trust Christ for the first time today.

Maybe you're a Christian who has been running from God.

And today you need to come to Him.

Maybe you've been, you've had, uh, you've made mistakes and convinced that God is finished with you.

He's not finished.

If God is speaking to your heart today, don't ignore Him.

Don't let pride, fear, culture, your opinions of others, the opinions from other people make your decision for you.

Today, choose Christ.

Today, surrender.

Today come to Him.