When Situations Are Beyond Our Control – God Got It!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(16) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. (17) If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. (18) But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”’ (Daniel 3:16-18)
We often find ourselves in situations that we may not always be best prepared for. Here is Florida, almost everyone is ready for hurricanes to strike, and even if they don’t come (as thankfully they haven’t this year – yet) we rest assured in peace of our preparedness. But we may not be prepared if something unexpected, like an earthquake hitting us in the Sunshine State, or if we find out overnight that our money is no longer in our accounts or is worthless in value. It could cause panic and anxiety, as we would have to come to grips quickly of our ‘new normal’, and hopefully would quickly come to terms, not overreact, and course correct with the Holy Spirit directing us what we should do.
There are several examples of such people in the Bible, especially Job who had it all (family, fame, reputation, health and wealth) then lost it all through a test God allowed Satan to perform on him. Though Job had some things wrong in his assessment, his one biggest and best reaction to his situation was simply ‘God is in control, and He can do whatever He needs to do to me if it glorifies Him.’ There are others throughout the Bible who also go through hardships and trials, yet maintain their Faith in God and are honored by Him for their commitment of Faith.
One situation involves the ‘Pep Boys’ (as I like to refer to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as such), as they are one of my favorite set of folks in the Bible who have such a trial; they understand the situation they’re in, and although they may disagree with it, they don’t overreact and go with it, but only to a point. That point was when it affected their worship of God. The Jews in servitude to them was OK; there is nothing the Bible to report that the Jews were being treated ruthlessly by the Babylonians (at least they were treated with equal ruthlessness along other slaves) as they were able to settle down, make homes, and work. The Jews were allowed to worship God, at least up until this point, where Nebuchadnezzar was forcing all of his subjects (Persians, Medes, and Hebrews) to pray to his personally-approved 90-foot-high idol-statue.
The Pep Boys, upon being told to bow down to worship the idol, basically told ‘ole’ Neb’, “We’ll do everything else you want us to do, as long as it doesn’t interfere with our morals and more importantly our relationship with God. But don’t put us in a position of choosing God or choosing you, Neb.” Of course, Neb said “Choose my way or it’s the furnace highway, boys!”
The answer the Pep Boys gave is a testimony to their Faith, and it is where our Faith should be. There are times we may need to take actions against evil; intervening to stop persecution or harm, speaking up to halt demeaning behavior, etc. But when it is evident actions to resist is moot, stand and speak in Faith. There was nothing the Pep Boys were going to do to ‘fight their way out’, and nothing could be said in a debate or argument that would change Neb’s mind. They fell back on their Faith and said, “Old Neb, we’re not going to fight you on this. Toss us in the furnace; God will either save us, or we will become extra crispy like fried chicken. Either way, it is God’s will and we will continue to worship Him and not your idol.”
The Pep Boys have what we see in humanistic fashion as a happy ending, they were thrown in the furnace and ‘an angel of the Lord’ (it was Jesus in a Christophany, or an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament) joined them and prevented them from being killed or even affected by the fire. However, in many cases for the Christian, they (or we) may not have this type of ending. For Paul, he was beheaded (as was John the Baptist); for many disciples and missionaries of the Lord their fate had rather gruesome endings. Why does God not provide all of His People happy endings such the one received by the Pep Boys?
It is quite simple, our fate is our Testimony, and the Pep Boys knew this. No matter how the furnace was going to go for them, they knew that God’s Will was for their fate to be to the glory of God. What if God had allowed them to burn up? Their Faith alone was a profound statement; “We died in our Faith that our God is God, and nothing or no one else is.” they would have said had this occurred. Stephen’s stoning (Acts 7:54-60) was similar; he would not renounce that Jesus was Lord, and dying did not condemn his attackers but pronounced Heaven was opening before him, and to forgive them.
We are going through a difficult time. Many Christians die due to illness or disease, of persecution, or a lack of provisions; many other Christians do not. May the Faith of the Christians who have died be a Testimony pleasing to God, and likewise may our Faith as Christians who have survived be as equal of a Testimony pleasing to our Lord. We don’t know our final fate; I pray regardless of how I go, whether going out in a ‘blaze of glory’ while shouting ‘MURICA! Praise God!’ or while snoozing in my chair watching Johnny Carson re-runs (the more likely scenario given the two), that I leave behind the Testimony of my Faith to present to the Lord and to others.
