Unwavering Faith
Daniel 3:17-18 If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.
Could I ask you today, how courageous are you? You know, when push comes to shove, when the chips are down, when you’re in the middle of one of those perfect storms where everything and everyone seems to be against you, how much courage are you able to muster? How much faith are you able to bring into play, right in the eye of that storm?
The Bible is full of stories. Not fables, not allegories, but real stories about real people. And for me, the most courageous story in the Bible … other than Jesus going to the Cross of course, is the story of three guys: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Here’s the picture.
The Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, builds a massive golden statue and demands that everyone bows down and worships it. Now Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have every reason to obey.
Firstly, they were Jewish exiles, foreigners; slaves effectively. People who were meant to do as they were told, to conform, if you will.
Secondly, they’d been elevated in the King’s administration, to positions of comfort, privilege and authority.
And thirdly, and this is the clincher, the King had decreed that anybody who didn’t bow down and worship this statue, would be thrown into a fire.
But despite all that, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they went: “Nah! We’re not doing that”. Everyone else bows down, but not them.
Nebuchadnezzar is furious. He demands to know why. They tell him, “We only worship the one true God”. So he has them arrested, bound up and sentenced to death by being burnt in a hot furnace. He gives them one more chance, though, to comply, to conform. It’s funny isn’t it, how people want us to conform to their views. But this is what they say to him:
If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)
Now … that’s gutsy. Come what may, these men are not going to betray their God. Whether He saves them or not, they are going to stay faithful to Him.
That’s one gutsy move, don’t you think?
When everyone is against you, when everything hangs in the balance, that’s exactly the sort of faith – unwavering faith, unflinching faith – that God calls you to. So the next time you find the whole world is against you, come what may, trust Him. You can’t go wrong.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Blessed by this devotion?
Share it with a friend!
Respond