But Even if it Does

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But even if it does, remember the Lord will be with you.  

 “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:3)

Have you ever heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible? They refused to follow the decree to worship a golden statue King Nebuchadnezzar built. The punishment was death by fiery furnace. Because the men remained strong in their conviction, the king instructed his servants to heat it to seven times its usual temperature. 

 Guess what their response was?

 “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.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

 When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tied up, and cast into the furnace, they began praising God. Praising God in the fire?! Well, God did choose to deliver them, and all three men remained unharmed. Not only that, but when the king looked in the furnace, he saw not three, but four men walking around in the bottom of it. Many commentaries suggest the fourth man was Jesus.

 What would happen to our anxiety if we trusted God like that? 

 Maybe He will deliver us, and we won’t have to go through that thing. But even he doesn’t, and we are thrown into a fire, into difficult situations, we can trust that we will never be alone. The Lord promised He would never leave us. Even if what we go through is more than we can handle, we can trust that Jesus will be right there in the fire with us, and we can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

 Let’s praise Him—even through the fire.

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