Staying Faithful to God

"17 If that is the case, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace and He will deliver us from your hand O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
                                                                                                  Daniel 3.  (Read the chapter)  NKJV

Four young men, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, had been commissioned to serve King Nebuchadnezzar and his court, and after three years vigorous training, they were set to work in his palace.

After a time, Nebuchadnezzar, set up a very large gold image as a figure of worship. It may have been a statue of himself, or his chief idol - Bel, or some demon god. Whatever, he demanded that everyone bow down to this atrocity. Daniel seems to be away at this time, possibly on important business, the other three flatly refuse to bow down to this figure and this infuriates the king. In an act that is indicative of someone who cannot get his own way and because he was a dictator who used bully tactics, Nebuchadnezzar, orders Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego to be thrown into the fiery furnace, which has been hotted up.

It is interesting how they spoke to the king when they put their refusal forward:

17 If that is the case, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace and He will deliver us from your hand O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." V 17-18

In other words, you can do what you wish sir, but God is our protector and He will come to our aid. But even if He doesn't, we will still praise and serve Him, and Him only. What a stand and a scary one too, However, many people today are making similar stands for God, refusing to give up on their faith and the cost is often death.

But God was with the men and accompanied them into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a forth person and actually thought that it was like a Son of God and later mentioned it could have been an angel. It is more likely to have been a Christophany - a preincarnate appearance of the Messiah and was probably in angel form; but it gives us a wonderful example of God, willing to go with us through trial and tribulation. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were not burnt, their hair and clothes were intact and they didn't even smell of fire. Amazing. 

Wherever we go and whatever we go through, God is always with us. Remember, David wrote, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' Psalm 23:4. God is faithful to us but we must also be faithful to Him. At times, although not so dangerous as this one, we may have to make a stand for our faith. We must not compromise. We have the Blessing; we have the Favour of God; we have the Protection of God and He is right beside us whatever we are doing.

Today, you may need to remember this. Things may not have been the way you would have wanted them to be this year. It may have been a taxing one; one of great anxiety, pain and loss. All you can do is to decide to move forward with God. We have a New Year ahead of us; a new beginning for some. But until then, we have a time when we can celebrate the birth of Jesus and thank Him for all He does for us each and every day. 

Let me encourage you to take His hand, allow Him to wrap His arms around you and tell you, that everything is going to be alright. 

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com