If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 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.
The book of Daniel provides some examples of the power of our almighty sovereign Creator. And, I'm not just talking about a fiery furnace. We also see it in how He worked in
and through Daniel to interpret dreams and cryptic writing. There can be no doubt it was God's power, not Daniel's power. The royal counselors did not have the power, gift, or ability to do that. It was God. AND, it was the intimate relationship Daniel had with God coupled with his surrender and availability to be used in that way.Can I just tell ya something? It was also that intimate relationship with God which gave Daniel and his three friends complete and full confidence in God's power to work in and through him. This is a big deal. It was this confidence in the power of God which paved the way for them to live a life free of fear. If you are going to respond the way they did when faced with the threat of a fiery furnace, you have to already be living a life free of fear. Daniel and his friends had a complete and full confidence in God's ability and willingness to save them.
If they had not already been living a life free of fear based on that confidence in God's power, there would have been a different response. They might have been looking for proof of God's power. They may have needed to see God exercise His power in a show of good faith before they bootstrapped up any faith in His power.
But that is not what happened. It was ENOUGH for them to simply KNOW He had it. So they were able to tell the king:
Hey, the God we serve absolutely CAN save us.
And He WILL save us.
Even if He does not, we will NOT serve your god.
Do you live a life free of fear? Do you have a complete and full confidence in the power of God? How big is your God?
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