Trustworthy: Learning courage from the life of DanielSample

Day 4—Trusting What God Can Do

Read Daniel 3:16-23.

Seriously. Who could write a more suspenseful script than what we read in this passage? But this isn’t fiction. This is God’s Word for us to read and be fortified by—courage under fire, courage to stand, courage to fall into fire, courage and faith in God to rescue.

The Hebrew men felt no need to defend themselves in the face of threat and accusation. “We don’t need to give you an answer to this question” (v. 16, CSB).

Hold it right there. How often do we feel the need—the great need—to defend why we take the stand we do, say no to the things we say no to, or live the way we live? An honest questioner will ask honest questions regarding our faith. An accusatory enemy will seek to engage us in a battle of words.

 Sometimes, instead of the enemy retreating, he heats the furnace exponentially hotter, determined to destroy us. But God is still on the throne during our time in the fiery furnace.

The godly Hebrew leaders didn’t know what God would do, but they knew what he could do. They bravely declared to Nebuchadnezzar that their God could miraculously save them from death and the power of the king. Their faith was deep and unwavering, not in what God would do, but in what He could do. They had faith in God even if the outcome was not what they prayed for. Bound, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace, the heat of which was so intense it killed the men who threw them in.

We relish stories of dramatic rescue, but not all stories end in release and promotion. The Hebrew leaders who faced the fiery furnace had no assurance they would live another day. They had the utmost assurance God loved them and could rescue them, but if He didn’t, standing for Him was a cause worth dying for.

How might this story relate to you today? Most of us are not at risk for publicly living out our faith as Christ-followers. But are you ever tempted to downplay or even keep silent about your faith in Jesus Christ?

Spend a few moments with Jesus, prayerfully pondering your life. Pour out your heart to your precious Savior. He is more than enough to provide all you need to courageously stand, serve, and love those who persecute you.