As I read Daniel 3 this morning I came to one of the classic stories of God's amazing deliverance of his people. It's a story that is taught in Sunday school because it clearly shows both God's great power to deliver and three men's trust in him whether he delivers them or not.
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As I think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego it strikes me that what we don't see in their lives are the little decisions that led to this big one. None of us are strong enough for this kind of test if we haven't already battled and won a dozen smaller challenges to our faith. For these three men this was a life and death test of their faith and it was a test I'm sure they had prepared for by many smaller tests over time. If they had compromised their faith for the easy way in the past they would have done so when faced with the furnace of fire, but what we see are three men resolute and willing to die rather than compromise. What we see is the final exam. What we don't see are the hundred small tests they had already taken to prepare for this day.
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It's those small, seemingly insignificant tests of faith that prepare us for the bigger ones ahead. If we are willing to compromise now in the small things we won't be ready to stand if the test demanded a life or death decision. Faith is built one test at a time and so is compromise. This story of these men and their bold test of faith has lived on for more than 2,600 years because of their trust in God and his amazing deliverance. What you don't read about are the many other Jews in Babylon at this same time who had already bowed their knee to the king's demands. They have disappeared with the millions forgotten who stood for nothing and so were remembered for nothing.
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Our tests will probably not be this severe. I doubt any of us will face the furnace for our faith, but we might. What you need to know about this story is what you can't read in the text...a big "risk it all" faith is built on a hundred little decisions of faith over compromise. At the time these small decisions might seem uneventful choices, but they are choices that build our faith or weaken it. Trust God in the little things and you'll be ready for the big things. When you have seen God faithful with the small things your testimony and faith will stand when the fiery furnace is warmed for your welcome. Faith is built when no one is watching and revealed when everyone will see it.
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I look forward to asking these men about their experience and the fear they must have felt as they chose to obey God rather than man. Their faith, built over many small choices, prepared them to handle the test that might cost them their lives. Their example has given us a wonderful story of faith and trust to guide us when our faith is tested.
6 comments:
That is a PERFECT picture. You find the most apt pictures to go with your posts.
So yesterday you were in Acts and today you are in Daniel....that's an interesting order of reading!
I'm reading in 6 places at a time- the history (Gen.-Job), the prophets (Isa-Mal), the gospels (Mat-john), the letters (Acts-Rev), Psalms and Proverbs. It makes a total of 6 chapters each day, but an amazing variety of literature. I've done this for a long time now and can read through the bible a couple times each years. It has really helped me a lot.
Hi Mike. I've followed you here from a discussion on Logic at Sam's blog. Seeing as how I live in Massachusetts, the likelihood of us sitting down to discuss it over a cold one any time soon is slim :)
If you'd like, I'd be more than willing to talk about it via email. My address is available in my profile - send me something if you're interested. I'm a pretty even-keel kind of guy; I'm interested in talking about stuff, regardless of which side of the debate people identify with.
In any case, I hope your family had a nice holiday weekend. Cheers...
Mike, is there a suggested reading plan that you take that from? That sounds interesting to me. I never know where to begin most days and end up reading a lot from Psalms and Proverbs and then bits and pieces of other books (like reading Malachi the other day - kind of odd, huh?). That sounds like an interesting way to read the Bible - more variety. Hope you are enjoying your time off!
Lori,
What I would recommend is that you start this way- Start on Tuesday, Dec. 1st, start with Proverbs 1 (I always start in Proverbs. I check the day of the month and read that chapter. With this system I literally read through Proverbs once a month), then I move to Psalms and read two chapters. This is easy in some sections, but must be adjusted when I get to 119. Then I would go to Genesis and read chapter 1, Isaiah 1, Matthew 1, and finally Romans 1. After you go through each section start over. By the time you finish a section you will have forgotten most of what you read and it will all feel new again. I love it and it's quick, easy and I never get bored. There's some honesty for you!
Thanks, Mike. I will write that down and stick it in my Bible. Maybe this will work for me. I tend to do the same thing over and over again (isn't that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results???)
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