This week's newsletter from Karen

During my Bible reading a while back I read one of my favorite stories in the Bible: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace.

To me this is one of the greatest testimonies of faith in all of Scripture.
I love the passage Daniel 3:16-18 which reads, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, 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 deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 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.’” 

They address the king with respect, but tell him they won’t be defending their position. They are about to be put to death; why not put up some defense? They were confident in life of who exactly was in charge. They were secure in death of who they were to follow. This confidence and security gave them the courage to fix a line they weren’t willing to cross – “we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold.” 

In this story, they were put into the fire and God did save them. 

Do we have enough confidence to keep us from feeling like we always need to defend our positions? Is our security enough to allow us to fix lines we won’t cross? Do we know that we will be sustained even if we are put into the “fire?” 

My prayer this week is that God will begin to develop in me this same kind of faith that produces confidence and security in Him.