Since I was out of town this past weekend, I listened to the sermon from church online today. It was about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Yep, just had to google how to spell their names.) As Brad, the pastor, pointed out, some of us have heard this story since we were little kids. But beyond the amazing factor that God saved them from death and showed everyone His power, there's always more to the story.
"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” - Daniel 3:17-18
They didn't put their faith in the outcome they hoped God would provide in their dilemma, they put their faith in God Himself. Sometimes when He doesn't do something we wanted to, we feel like our faith is shaken, and feel like He didn't come through. But even as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, sometimes we have thorns in our lives that God doesn't take away, even after praying about it a lot.
"Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
He may come through in the most spectacular way, that you didn't even pray for at all because you didn't think He would. Sometimes He may answer no, because it is what will bring Him the most glory or is what's best for you.
I know that I sometimes feel mad when God doesn't answer prayer in the way I want Him to. More often than I'd like. I know I feel mad when God doesn't clean up messes in my life that I have made myself, and the pain of the consequences lingers. Sometimes I think, "THIS could never bring God glory. This is a rotten pile of stench that is an embarrassing disgrace not only to myself, but to God." But that in itself limits God. Saying that something I messed up could never bring Him glory.
Like those three men, I want to say, "I know God can do this, but if He doesn't, I will worship Him anyways and know His plan is for the best." I want to love God for who He is, not just what He can do for me. I want to stand before Him in heaven one day and say, "Thank you for doing what was best for me, even when I was blinded by pain and anger and the world." I KNOW I will say that, and what a beautiful day that will be!! Like a child who grows up and thanks their parent for not letting them touch the stove, play with knives, and run into oncoming traffic, I will be the child of God who thanks Him for the multitude of instances He protected me, redirected me, and used me to bring other people to know Him.
This is a perspective I too often forget. I too often forget His sovereignty and His perfect timing. Not only do I read about it in the bible but I see it in my own life too. Sometimes I just need to sit and think about these times and let God reset my perspective. May I never forget it so much that I run away from God. I pray that He will place people into my life to always bring me out of my times of complacency, my times of being lukewarm in the Lord, my times where I deliberately turn away and chose to sin over and over again, and my times of pain. I pray that not only will He place those people in my life to help me, but that He will also change my circumstances to redirect me and remind me. As Brad said in his sermon, we are too comfortable in America sometimes because we are not persecuted in the way that other countries are for following God. We aren't killed or tortured, and rarely does someone lose their job from it. And as my friend Bryan said, we sometimes lack the urgency of pursuing God because of the millions of other things in life that get in the way. I want God to give me an urgency with clear direction as to how to change my life, live my life, and continue my life. I want my heart to be open to what He says instead of shaking my head and saying, "That's too hard."
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