On Daniel 3 - Paradox of Faith

"King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon... Then the herald loudly proclaimed, 'This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down adn worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.'" (vv. 1, 4, 5)

I find it so strange that after King Nebuchadnezzar had just hailed Daniel's God as supreme, he set up an image of someone else and ordered the people to worship it and declared that they would be thrown into a furnace if they refused. Had he forgotten God's dream and interpretation?

Nebuchadnezzar summons Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to him when he learns that they will not worship the statue. He offers them one more chance to do so before he throws them into the furnace. Now here's the funny part: He says, "'Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?'" (v. 15) What God indeed? Hadn't he told Daniel that his God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings? (2:37) I'm still incredulous that he had forgotten.

But it is another time that God revealed His sovereignty. The three men said, "'we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 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 will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (vv. 17, 18) I love this. Look at their faith. They KNOW that God is capable of saving them. They also know that He may choose not to, but they still trust that if He doesn't, there is a reason for it, and they'll serve Him anyway.

WHAT FAITH! Oh, Lord, give me that kind of faith. I'm so afraid to go through the fire because I don't like suffering. Help me trust that You are working Your perfect will and plan for the good (not necessarily of myself, but for Your glory) in the midst of my trials. Help me be willing to sacrifice for Your glory. I think that's my biggest problem with allowing God to work. I know in my head that everything is going to be for good, but I'm not willing to be part of the sacrifice it may take. I already lost my dad because of that.

Way back before we had discovered that my dad had cancer, I prayed that God would do whatever it took for my parents to come to know Him - to remove what was preventing them from accepting His salvation and to give them whatever they needed to accept it. Well, He answered my prayer in a doozy of a way, and I never expected it. He took away my dad. My mom relied on my dad and my dad relied on himself. So God took that away. It was for the best in hindsight. My dad is now in Heaven, and I know that I'll see him again one day. But I still struggle to pray those really big faith prayers for fear of what I could lose. I still miss my dad terribly. I wouldn't trade his eternity in Heaven for more time with him here on earth, but I'm afraid of losing more people that I love if I pray those big prayers.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but I know that God is not going to work really big things in my life until I am willing to surrender everything to Him. I have to be willing to lose everything for His glory, and I'm not there yet. But I want to be.

I know in my head that being willing to surrender everything doesn't mean that God is going to take it away. I know He wants to bless me and have a fulfilling, beautiful life. I'm just so afraid that He's going to take more people away from me (even though I know that's not the kind of God He is.) It's such a struggle. Please help me, Lord. Increase my faith. Move my head knowledge into my heart.