But even if he does not, we want you to know,

O King, that we will not serve your gods or

worship the image of gold you have set up.

Daniel 3:18

King Nebuchadnezzar made a huge gold image and demanded that everyone in the empire bow down and worship it whenever they heard the music playing. And whoever refused would be cast into the fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the image. They had been appointed by the king at Daniel’s request to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon. This was a high position. Daniel had recently interpreted the king’s dream and had found favor with him. But Nebuchadnezzar might not have not known these three men personally because when some astrologers told on them, the king was furious and ordered that the men be brought before him. He said, “I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the image. If you refuse again, I will throw you into the fiery furnace.”

These three men told the king not to bother because they had no intention of bowing down and worshiping the image. They said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Dan. 3:16-18 NLT). This infuriated the king. He commanded the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.

The men were bound and thrown into the fire. It was so hot it killed the soldiers as they threw them in. But not Shadrach, Meshach, nor Abednego. Soon the king saw there were four men walking around in the fire unharmed. This was unbelievable and the king shouted for them to come out. King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted him. They defiled the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” (Dan. 3:28 NLT) He then made a decree that no one was aloud to say anything against their God.

These men were willing to die rather than give up their faith. They believed God was able to save them…they even declared to the king He would save them “He will rescue us from your power”. And yet they didn’t know for certain because they also said, “even if He doesn’t, we will not bow down to the image."

This is the tension we live in. We have faith that God is able and will rescue our prodigals from the wrong path they have chosen, but we need to also be able to say “Even if He doesn’t do the thing we want Him to do or the way we want Him to do it, we will not turn our back on God. Our hope is in Him." We will not lose faith. We will not give up. Remember our faith is pleasing to God and He will do what is good and He will do what is right and it will be in His time.

Even If by MercyMe

They say sometimes you win some Sometimes you lose some And right now, right now I'm losing bad I've stood on this stage night after night Reminding the broken it'll be alright

But right now, oh right now I just can't

It's easy to sing When there's nothing to bring me down But what will I say When I'm held to the flame

Like I am right now

I know You're able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith To move a mountain Well good thing A little faith is all I have, right now But God, when You choose To leave mountains unmovable Oh give me the strength to be able to sing

It is well with my soul

I know You're able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt Would all go away if You'd just say the word But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

You've been faithful, You've been good

All of my days Jesus, I will cling to You Come what may ‘Cause I know You're able I know You can

I know You're able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand But even if You don't My hope is You alone I know the sorrow, I know the hurt Would all go away if You'd just say the word But even if You don't My hope is You alone

It is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul