Standing firm

Okay, so this is a change in tune from my regular posts, but I've had this on my mind since I left Bible study this morning. I'm currently in my third week of a Bible study with a group of ladies on the book of Daniel written by Beth Moore. Wow does she have an incredible way of making history come to life! Today we studied the miraculous story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego surviving a blazing inferno in which they were thrown because they would not bow down to the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar ("Neb") had built.

In a crowd of people laying prostrate before the king and the statue of gold, they refused to bow, standing firm, literally, in their faithfulness to God...even if it meant being burned alive in a fiery furnace. As King Neb says of the three in Daniel 3:28..."They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God."

They were faithful to stand firm as witnesses for Christ. God protected them. The king praised God as a result and ordered that no one was allowed "to say anything against" God without punishment. Daniel 3:27 indicates that "the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them." This was a furnace so hot, mind you, that it killed the very soldiers "who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego." (v. 22) Simply incredible.

So, why is it again that we don't trust God with our lives, even with the smallest of details? Why is it that we think our plan is better than His or that we can handle things just fine on our own? Do we think that much of ourselves?

As Beth said so well, "Let us not be spiritual lightweights." Oh that we, as Christians, would be as committed to and trusting of God as these three (and Daniel) were--believing Him through the fiery trials and trusting Him with our whole lives. Let us bring God fame by standing firm.