341 Blessed Be Your Name - M. Redman/B. Redman
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Putting our Faith No Matter What
September 1st, 2007 5 Views
http://www.christianhub.com.sg/CHblog/2007/09/01/putting-our-faith-no-matter-what/
Our church is currently doing a series on Daniel and it’s always fascinating how God can use stories that you think you already know it all, to teach you or remind you of things. Recently, we were reading Daniel 3 and I was reminded of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
King Nebuchadnezzar had created a golden image and demanded that everyone bowed down and worship it. The Bible says that these 3 men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused. According to the king’s (small caps in purpose) decree, anyone that refused to bow will be thrown into the fire. Here is the response of these 3 faithful men of God:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnance, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’ ”- Dan 3:16- 18
This is what faith is all about. Faith is what remains after all the acts and masks is stripped away. It is easy to say that we put our faith in God when things are going well, it is quite another thing when things around us start crumbling and we find ourselves on shaky ground. These 3 men were willing to put their lives where their faith is. They don’t merely profess to trust in God, then act it out and stake everything on their conviction. I wonder how many of us Christians in this present day and age of developed countries, who face no obvious persecution, can respond in the same manner as these men did.
But more than that, there is another small group of words that has ministered to me more than this is the words that come after their declaration of faith. It is the simple but so powerful words, ‘Even if God does not…’ I believe that these words alone is powerful enough to disarm any weapon that the enemy throws at us. While we trust God to deliver us from various trials and tribulations, we also need to recognize that God does not work within the boundaries of our limited understanding. Sure, we hope to get cured of cancer and who doesn’t want that unreasonable boss to be removed? But sometimes, our most desperate prayers do not get answered the way we hope. But we must still continue to do what is right.
Shadrach, Meschah and Abednego demonstrated this by saying that even if God does not save their physical bodies from the fire, it will still not change the fact that God knows best and that their faith in Him remains unwavering.
Are you going through some period of testing right now? Is the answer that you are praying for seemingly not coming? Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from these 3 men to not let our faith or actions be dependent on how things work out. Rather, continue to do what is right regardless, and God who sees these acts of faith will credit it unto you as righteousness.
Now complete this sentence if it is applicable to you as your present moment, “Even if God does not deliver me, I will ….” and ask God for strength to see it through regardless of what our physical eyes see.
12:52 AM