But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. — Daniel 3:18
Over the course of my life, I have met many Christians that were facing some difficult circumstances. On many occasions, I remember Christians who I went to church with who were diagnosed with cancer, or had some other type of extreme sickness. They immediately began to pray that God would guide the doctors and send healing their way.
In many instances, God did exactly that. He sent healing their way, and I watched their cancer go into remission. In other instances, I watched as their sickness vanished entirely. Truly, God has the ability to change circumstances that are beyond our imagination or dreams. That happened here in the case of the fiery furnace. God delivered them, just as they believed He could.
I love the words that were said here. In responding to the king, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said they believed God could deliver them. But they followed that with “But if not.” There are times in life that God does not intervene or deliver as we would desire.
I certainly cannot attempt to explain why God chooses to heal or intervene in some circumstances of life, and in others He chooses not to. This is not a favoritism that God plays in the life of anyone. It is all according to His divine plan and purpose. But this shouldn’t change our outlook.
Our mindset should be like that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We should have faith that God can intervene in our situation, sickness, or circumstance and deliver us. But if not, He is still God. Our mindset shouldn’t be focused only on our desire, but that God’s will would be accomplished.
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