16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
- Daniel 3: 16-18
There's a movie coming soon called "God's not dead" and according to the trailer it's about a guy that goes to a philosophy class and the teacher says "there is no God" and whoever disagrees has to debate why. Well this guy, a Christian, disagrees and has to explain why. I haven't seen the movie, but trailers nowadays leave little to wonder. Either way today I want to talk about this. Not the movie, but what if one day you meet a person that makes you "defend" God? There are religious debates going on everywhere and everyday between believers and non-believers, but most of it is whether or not we come from monkeys... But what if one day someone tells you " There is no God" and you as a believer that there is a God, what would you do? What would you say?
Well we know what some would say. In this chapter from the Book of Daniel, we see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had to take a stand. They would either bow down and worship the king and his gods, or they would stand and worship the one and only God.
Sometimes we are afraid of standing up for God, even more if it means we could die if we do. I mean sometimes we even hesitate to stand up for God just because we might loose a friend, or some person we don't even know might make fun of us. Or what if someone challenges you to demonstrate that God exists by a miracle like a healing? What if that person doesn't get healed? These are things I also struggle with, daily. But then this particular verse gives me courage. These three guys stood before the king and told him NO! We will not bow down to your statue or your gods. Why? Because I believe in the one and only God, the mighty One! He can save us from death. And my favorite part:
"But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
WOW! So if the king was just a random guy saying, "well prove that God exists by making this person be healed" and you pray for this person and he isn't healed because God's will is different. We should be able to trust in Him and stand up for him. These guys answered it, and this is the way we should think. Even when God doesn't do it our way, even then I will trust in Him. Even then He is able always!
But what happens next is just what God does. He doesn't leave you hanging. He shows his power:
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
27"....They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. "
They took a stand for God and He saved them. Even better, He was there with them. God doesn't leave you, to see what you will do from far. He is there with you. He is standing right there, and when you take a stand for Him, He will even stand in your place. Jesus showed us, when He went on a cross to die in our place to pay for our sins. He did this in advance to show us that whenever we are in need of Him, whenever we need him to stand beside us, He is there. He is always there.
Today I want to encourage you to never back down from your faith. Even though I've been a Christian for many many years, I'm still a baby. I still need to grow so much and each day I want to know more and more and be closer and closer to God. Paul said this is a marathon, in the end of it we will get our prize, to finally be with our Lord. But for now I encourage you to stand for Him, He is already standing for you.
Be Blessed and be a Blessing for those around you.
PS: Please Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Tenthousandhourswithhim
