“I know God can, but even if He doesn’t…”
In Daniel chapter 3, we find one of the greatest examples of practical faith in Scripture. The setting: Israel has been conquered and carried away into Babylon for their repeated sin. Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are among the people of Israel that have been selected to serve in the court of the King of Babylon.
In this account, King Nebuchadnezzar has set up an idol for all the country to worship, but Daniel’s three friends have refused. The King gives them one more chance by threatening them with the following:
“Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, ‘Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’”
Daniel 3:14-15, ESV
These three faithful followers of God are put on the spot. Here are the basic facts of the story:
- they are confronted with breaking the King’s decree and not worshiping his idol
- they are given one last opportunity to worship his false gods and idol
- they are threatened with being burned alive in a fiery furnace, and
- they are having their faith and resolve tested
What was their response? In short, it is one of the greatest professions of faith in all of Scripture:
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’” (3:16-18)
Daniel 3:16-18
They respectfully answer the king with three certainties:
- God IS ABLE to deliver us
- God WILL deliver us
- Even if He doesn’t, we still won’t worship your idol
They knew God was capable of delivering them from this earthly king. Likewise, they knew that He would deliver them…either by miracle or death. Finally, they assured the king of their faithful resolve to worship God and God alone without wavering or compromise.
What if we as the church today had this type of faith and resolve towards our God? What would that look like? How would we answer our inner doubt and the discouraging thoughts that plague us daily? Maybe like this:
- Yes, I know God can save my loved-one, but even if He doesn’t…I will never waiver in my faith.
- Yes, I know that God can provide for this financial crisis, but even if He doesn’t…I will never waiver in my faith.
- Yes, I know that God can spare these legal consequences, but even if He doesn’t…I will never waiver in my faith.
- Yes, I know that God can save/heal this relationship, but even if He doesn’t…I will never waiver in my faith.
- Yes, I know God can calm this storm, but even if He doesn’t…I will never waiver in my faith.
I know in my own life, my faith has been tested in more areas than I can count…and I know that I often failed. I would like to think that if I was in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s place, I would have answered the king as they did, but given my past failures…I am not sure that I would have.
Satan is going to try every fiery weapon in his arsenal to pierce our shield of faith and spiritual armor, but he has nothing new and nothing that we cannot withstand by through our faith in Christ. The storms of disease, doubt, tragedy, hurts, abuse, financial issues, family issues, etc. will come. They will test us. We need to be prepared, established and firmly rooted in our faith before they hit. We need to rehearse in our minds and hearts… ‘I know God can, but even if He doesn’t…’