But If Not
Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed′nego answered the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.’”
Nebuchadnezzar was asking these three young men to worship the golden image and letting them know that once the music starts, they need to bow down and worship. This king had given them their status, their appointed positions, their wealth, and now asked in return that they obey him to the point of idolatry. I marvel at the directness, humility, and manners of these men. They could have responded arrogantly, they could have mocked the false image, they could have tried to enrage the king more by belittling the king. Instead, they approached it gently, but directly as they did not need to wait for the music to start as they wouldn’t be worshipping the idol.
They know that the Lord will save them from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and would save them from the fire. They knew their God was greater than any power on earth and the Lord was with them. Then, the men take a humble turn and say “but if not”. They knew the Lord was going to save them, but they wanted it to be known that even if the Lord did not save them from their suffering, they would not serve the gods or golden images.
Not everything will turn out the way we want it to or the way that we would like for it too. These men knew that the Lord would save them, but even if the Lord decided not to, they still wouldn’t worship a false god. They were at peace with whatever the Lord willed, for good or bad, for suffering or rescue, for life or death. As mentioned yesterday on suffering, we should all expect some hardships in our lives, but it may never be to the extremes we see in the lives of the apostles and prophets. Still, we work on growing our faith and relationship with Jesus so that when the hard times come, we can hold on tight to Christ and humbly say “the Lord’s will be done”. We may be praying for Him to rescue us from hard times and remember that He can… but if not… the Lord’s will be done.