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Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
Just have faith…God will heal you.
Just have faith…God will give you a child.
Just have faith…God will grant you what you ask for.
Except my problem is that I’ve seen enough of the world by now to know it’s not true. I know Christian people who have succumbed to cancer — God didn’t heal them. I know Christian women who have remained barren all of their lives — God didn’t give them a child.
So while I’m waiting, when people tell me to have faith that God will do what I ask, how can I believe them?
A lot of us know the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. (Does this story evoke Sunday School cartoon pictures of lions and a boy with shaggy hair for anyone else?) But what is overshadowed by this story is another miracle: The saving of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace.
Their faith is the faith we need while we wait.
The story in a nutshell: King Nebuchadnezzar is furious with these three because they do not serve his gods. He tells them he will be throwing them in the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal, and challenges: “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:15)
Here is how they respond: “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.” (verse 17)
In other words: God can do anything. He can and will save us from your evil ways.
BUT.
That’s not the end of their response, and I’m grateful, because it’s not the end of mine either.
They continue: “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.” (verse 18)
In other words: Even though he can do anything, God could decide not to get us out of the furnace unscathed. But even then, we will not turn away from Him.
In their day, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego likely witnessed unanswered prayers by godly people, too. They knew it wasn’t a given that God would grant them what they wished. But either way, they would remain committed to Him.
This is the faith we need while waiting on God.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, our faith cannot be dependent on whether or not God answers our prayers with a resounding “Yes!” Instead, we acknowledge that God can do anything, even miracles. And yet we also say: Even if He does not, we will serve Him always. We cling to His promise of eternal life.
Further study + reflection
Do you ever feel like you have to be so “positive” that you can’t even acknowledge the fact that God might not answer your prayers? Read the full story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. Take note of their faith. How did King Nebuchadnezzar respond at the end of the chapter? What does this tell you about why God did indeed rescue the 3 men?
***This story in Daniel 3 has become one of my favorites — so much so that I created some wall art to remind me that “even if not, God is still good.” Check it out here!
Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
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