Nebuchadnezzar
spoke and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you
not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you
are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, zither, the
lyre, harp, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, fall down and worship the
image which I have made. But if you do not worship, in that moment you shall be
thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that god who
shall deliver you out of my hand? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and
said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to return a word to you on
this matter. If it is so that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, then He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your
gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar
was filled with wrath, and the form of his face was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they should heat the furnace
seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded mighty men in his
army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to throw them into the
burning fiery furnace. Daniel 3:14-20
MKJV
BUT IF NOT...
I believe with all my heart that God is
able. He is able to heal every kind of
disease. He is able to alter
circumstances. He is able to change
hearts. He is able to quench fires. He is even able to raise the dead. That is also what these three Hebrew boys
believed. They said as much to the king!
They were willing to bet their lives on God's ability to deliver them from the
fires of the angry king's furnace. What an awesome faith!
Their faith, however, was even greater than
that. They had such faith that they were
able to say that God is able to deliver us, BUT even if he chooses not to do
so, we will still do the right thing.
That, my friend, is an unbeatable faith. What can Satan or his demons do
to someone with that kind of faith? It
is a devil-beating, disaster-taming, death-defying faith.
We are quick to share an after-the-fact
story about how God delivered us but faith is a before-the-fact confession that
He will deliver! Some see such
statements as naivety or mere positive thinking. Others say someone is just not facing the
facts. But faith does face the
facts. The difference is it faces them
from the perspective of God.
Will God always deliver us from the
fire? Of course not. We live in a fallen world and are vulnerable
to its dangers. The real question is,
“Will you still trust God when the fire burns you?” What will you do if God doesn't deliver? What if that cancer is not cured? What if you
really are laid off? What if he (she) does not come back? Will you still believe? Will you still love God? Will you still do the right thing?
If you can trust God even when your faith
is put through the fiery trial then you have a foundation that is unshakable, a
treasure chest of hope that will never be empty. You have the kind of faith that baffles the
world and infuriates the devil. And you have the kind of God Who is able to
deliver you...whether it is from the fire or through the fire. He is able.
Scripture
to Claim:
And without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder
of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 NASB
