No Matter What

Pic Attribution

When King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem he made sure to preserve the best of her population and forced them to live in Babylon. Daniel and his friends, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah were among them. You may recognize these latter three by the names King Nebuchadnezzar "gave" them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. King Neb (can ya blame me for the abbreviation?) wanted captives to become Babylonians, fully immersing them in the culture and customs...names and all.

The three men had been promoted to governmental positions thanks to God and
their friend Belteshazzar, or Daniel. Apparently, though, their positions meant little to the king.

During one of King Neb's "how great am I" moments, he demanded that all people, regardless of culture, religion, etc. would bow down to and worship a golden statue he'd erected after having a dream in which a similar statue was the subject. (Read Daniel 2 for that equally awesome story!) But back to the mandated worship time. Everyone was to bow down to the statue when they heard the music being played. Everyone did. Well, except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. King Neb found out, asked them to bow again (just in case they hadn't heard correctly and didn't understand the ramifications of NOT bowing). They'd heard. They still refused.

King Neb didn't just get mad; he was irate. He ordered the furnace be stoked seven times hotter than usual and the men to be thrown in. The part of the story that grabbed me (yes, apart from throwing live humans in a furnace) was their reaction to the king's outrage and execution order: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods..."(Dan. 3:17-18) 

We know the story. God delivered the men; they were unharmed...didn't even smell like smoke. But, I guess all the times hearing/reading that story I didn't focus on the men's response. They were not going to forsake God, no matter what. They had no guarantee that they'd walk out of that furnace unscathed.

I thought about the fiery furnaces in my christian life...rejection and ridicule and more. That's scary.  However,  that's a smaller price to pay than burning alive, is it not? God may deliver us from our fiery furnaces, and He may not. It is up to us to be determined to be faithful to Him no matter what.

Daniel

Josh and I have watched most of the miniseries, "The Bible." The latest episode was about the prophet Daniel and his being taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem. Daniel's trust in God and resolve to worship Him no matter what is tested time and again. I've never read the entire book of Daniel, so, I am. 

In my Life Application Study Bible a summary is given of each chapter. After the latest tragedy in Boston, imagine my pleasant surprise when reading this from Daniel's intro: "...International and personal tragedies make our world seem a fearful place, overflowing with evil and seemingly out of control. And the litany of bombings, coups, murders, and natural disasters could cause us to think that God is absent or impotent. "Where is God?" we cry, engulfed by sorrow and despair. Skip a little. God is sovereign...And he is here now! Despite news reports or personal stress, we can be confident that God is in control."

And those are an editor's words before I've even delved into the Scripture!! 

I honestly pray for faith like Daniel's...to trust God in the bleakest of times. And, I'm reminded of Christ's promise from Matthew 28:20: "...and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 

I'll post more as I read through Daniel:)

Pic attribution

Finished the Book

I finished Singer's "The Judge." The second half wasn't as compelling as the first (somewhat repetitive, but then again, I find myself thinking lots of books are repetitive lately...weird), but it was still good, nonetheless. Ultimately, this book reminded me of how much I've yet to learn about the greatest book on Earth. God doesn't mince words when he tells us to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. How do we do what we don't know?

"Hiding Place"

It's so easy for me to say, "God, you're in control." It's another for me to actually stop worrying and truly allow him to work. I have become very aware of my own worrying as of late and find myself thinking of and going to Psalm 32:7..."Thou art my hiding place: thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah."