God, Faith and Courage (Part III of III)
In the Old Testament book of Daniel, the third chapter, is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These three young Jewish men were captive in King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire, which existed 600 years before the birth of Jesus. The king sent out a royal decree that all his subjects would bow down and worship the idol the king had made of himself. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the idol of the king.
They would not compromise their obedience and faith to the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When the king promised to burn the three alive unless they bowed to the idol, their response to the king should be our response when danger and disappointment, and even the prospect of death, threaten our security, our peace, and even our lives.
Daniel 3:16-18, 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 furnace, 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.”
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are you ready to unconditionally trust God even during trouble or tragedy? Sometimes God chooses to bring peace to us rather than to our circumstances.
He may calm the outward storm of circumstance or the inward storm of our stress and emotions. But with God as our Holy Father and Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we can always make it to the other side and through the fires of life.
When you have storms in your life and your ship of life is threatened with destruction, where do you go for comfort and confidence?
Do you trust yourself and others more than you trust Christ? Is Jesus your last hope, your last resort?
Is that why you finally go to Him?
If you love and live the Christian ethic, the Christian life-style day in and day out, believing with all your soul in the promise of heaven and eternal life, faith and courage will rule and bless your heart and mind — no matter what you may face.
Jesus loves to reveal Himself inside our sorrows and inside our fears.
Psalm 27:1 (King David writing), “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”