God is Able, But

 God is All-Powerful. He can and does work all kinds of miracles. God is All-Wise. He always does the right thing, in the right way, at the right time. We can and should have confidence in God's ability and His judgement. Therefore, whatever happens in our life, we should have no doubt that God is able to do whatever needs to be done to deliver us from harm, sickness, or discomfort. However, we need to be aware at the same time that He may not choose to work and miracle for us, because of His wisdom. He may allow us to go through a terrible trial, or He may allow us to die. Either way, we should have faith and be content, knowing God will take care of us. That was the situation for Shadrach, Meshach,  and Abed-Nego in Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden image made and set up for all people to worship when they heard music playing. (Daniel 3:17-18) They would not bow, so they were taken to the king, who was very angry. He had decreed that anyone who would not bow would be thrown into a fiery furnace. They knew that when they chose not to bow, so they told the king that their God was able to deliver them from his hand, but even if He didn't, they would not worship his gods or fall down before the golden image. That is genuine faith in God.

All down through history, people have fully trusted God with their lives. In many cases God protected them from harm, but in many other cases, they were imprisoned or killed. The glorious reality is that their faith in God was a powerful testimony to their relationship with Him. It showed everyone  around them His peace that they had in their hearts. They marveled that they would go to the death, because of their belief that God was with them, and He would take them to heaven if they died. That is why I say this is the sign of genuine faith in God. We do not just believe in God because He gives us what we want and works miracles to get us out of the trials of life. We trust Him as Lord of all, and we place our lives in His hands, so that whatever happens, we belong to Him completely. Is that the faith that you have in Jesus Christ? Is He Lord of All to you? Is He Lord of your life? That is the living faith it takes to be saved from our sins. Living faith is seen by our works. If we are not willing to trust the Lord in our actions, we do not really have faith. I pray we will all stop and ask ourselves if that is the kind of faith we have, the kind of faith that believes no matter what happens.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Daniel 4-6.