But Even If

By: Jenifer Metzger

If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue

us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can

rescue us from the power of you, the king. But

even if He does not rescue us, we want you as

king to know that we will not serve your gods

or worship the gold statue you set up.

Daniel 3:17-18 CSB

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego -three men forced by a king to bow down and worship his golden statue. Yet, they know they are only called to worship God. But disobeying the king's command will ultimately result in death. So these three men must make a decision. Do we obey the earthly king and go against God, yet live or do we obey our Heavenly King and die?

We read in Daniel 3 that the men choose to obey God over the king. We don't see a struggle. We don't see them going back and forth. We don't see a torment as they decide what they should do. I don't think it was a hard decision or even a question for them. They simply do not bow down.

Their disobedience to the king meant they were thrown into the fiery furnace. But first he gave them another chance to bow to him. They made it very clear they would not bow him, even if it meant they died. This enraged the king so much so that he demanded the the furnace be heated seven times hotter than normal, then, he had them thrown in.

You probably know how the story goes. The men are bound and thrown in the furnace, but soon it is discovered they are not only still alive, but they are not harmed in any way, and there is a fourth man in the fire with them!

What I want us to look at today are the words of the men before facing death: "Even if He does not rescue us..." Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had faith that God absolutely could rescue them from this earthly death. Yet, they also knew God didn't have to and may choose not to. But they still choose obedience to God, no matter what the outcome would be.

Let's look at this in our own lives.

God tells us to give our last fifty dollars to someone who needs food. We have no idea if God will replace that fifty dollars. He absolutely can, but what if He doesn't? Do we tighten our grip on the money or say, "Even if He does not, I will obey"?

God tells us to go over and talk to that rude neighbor who is always causing problems. We have no idea if God will soften his heart or if he'll just yell at us once again. Do we ignore the nudge of God or say, "Even if He does not, I will obey"?

God tells us to apologize to that friend we had a falling out with. We have no idea if God is restoring this relationship or if our apology will be met with more hatred. Do we ignore God or say, "Even if He does not, I will obey"?

We can apply this to so many areas of life. Think of your own life. Where have you felt the Lord telling you to do something. Have you obeyed even if you don't know the outcome, even if God doesn't play things out the way you want, even if God doesn't rescue you?

Our faith and obedience go hand in hand. We can't have faith in God if we refuse to obey Him. They two work together. No matter what we are facing, we have to let our faith fuel our obedience and say, "Even if, I will obey,"

Discussion:
1. Think of your life. Where has God called you to obedience and you let fear or uncertainty win out?
2. Where is God calling you to obedience now?