Stand Firm/Love Well | What Happens in the Fire | But If Not

“But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods…”   Daniel 3:18 

-She believed God would heal her child. She prayed, she fasted, she begged—but her son died anyway.

-He believed God would help him get out of the financial mess he was in. He claimed it, declared it—and went to prison.

-They had faith that the terrorists would not come into their village. They prayed, they asked—but the village was destroyed. 

What are we to make of these situations? How do we hang on to faith when God doesn’t do what we believed He would do?

The answer is found in three little words: BUT. IF. NOT. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were confident that the God they served would deliver them from the king’s fire. That is faith. Faith based on the character and promises of God propels us to ask, to believe, and to hope. But if we stop there, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Faith alone allows us to become our own gods, demanding obedience from the Lord because we prayed.

We need something else. We need trust. At times God overrides our prayers because He knows things we don’t know. He sees every detail in light of eternity and orchestrates events that will bring about eternal benefit. He wants us to have faith, but he also wants us to trust His judgment. Faith is never a replacement for the sovereignty of God. God will be God and do what is right and He invites us to partner with Him in that plan. 

Final Thought: Faith says, “MY God will…”   Trust says, “But if He doesn’t, I will still worship Him.”  (Isaiah 46:9-11)

Prayer: Father, help me to learn from the experience of your three servants about how to trust when disaster looms. I want to stand on your promises and not give way to fear. But I must also remember that you are God