28Answering
and saying Nebuchadnezzar, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego who sent His angel and has delivered His servants who trusted upon Him
and changed the command of the king and have given their bodies that they
should not worship and not serve any god except their God.”
Here we have an unbelieving monarch marveling at what goes
on between us believers and our God. In a sense, this is always the case.
People see the outside. They see the results
of faith. They cannot see the faith itself. The Lord tells us to “be ready
always to give an answer to any man who asks you a reason of the hope that is
in you” (I Peter 3:15). They don’t know what it is. They can’t know. Your hope
is “in you.” They can only see the outside.
So it is here with Nebuchadnezzar. He sees with his own eyes
that the God of these men is extremely powerful. He sees that their God sends
angels to help His people. He can see that somehow these men trust their God. He sees that this trust
goes so far that these men were actually willing to die rather than abandon
their singular worship of this God. From the outside, we could offer these men
all sorts of accolades. They were brave. They were resolved. They were
faithful. They were constant. All these things Nebuchadnezzar could see. What
he could not see was what went on inside
of them.
I think this an extremely important point to ponder. You or
I could read this account, then say, “I should be more brave. I should be more
resolved.” “When I face temptations or trials, I want to be more faithful.” But
we, like Nebuchadnezzar, would be looking at the outside. What does the Bible itself tell us? “By faith they quenched the violence of the
fire” (Heb 11:34). It was not by courage. It was not by resolve. It was not
even directly by faithfulness. It was by
faith.
By “faith” we’re talking about the kind of real faith which is
something that goes on entirely inside of us. It is faith in the sense of our personal relationship with God. What
kept Joseph from temptation? Listen to him: “How could I then do such a wicked
thing and sin against God?” (Gen
39:9). What kept Moses going? “He persevered because He saw Him who is invisible” (Heb 11:27). What
made young David brave to face Goliath? He asked, “Who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? … The Lord who
delivered me from the paw of the lion will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine” (I Sam 17:26,37). What made the Apostles brave to face the
Sanhedrin? “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God?” (Acts 4:19). In each
of these cases, we can admire what we see on the outside, but let us believers be
reminded that the virtues we think we see are being fired by the engine of
faith inside.
Matthew Henry remarked, “Note. A steadfast faith in God will produce a steadfast
faithfulness to God.”
J. Hubbard noted the fellows’ trust in God and wrote, “We
pass by everything else and cling to this, because it is the chief glory of
man, and his most lasting good. The imposing art of the magician, the foresight
of the astrologer, the easy saying of the soothsayer, may be grand; but that
power these three captives possess, which enables them to defy the king and
live for God, is more glorious by far. The wealth of the king only enriched the
body, and left the soul as poor as before; would last but a few years, and then
vanish forever. But the faith of the captives enriched 'the inner man' with a
life and blessedness that would endure throughout the hidden ages of eternity.
The chief glory of man is not outward grandeur, but a strong trust in God;
because it is a power to help amid the cares of life, amid the experience of
death, and the unknown possibilities of the future.”
W. Boyd-Carpenter
commented, “The law of success is self-control, but the power to make
the law effective is in the Divine presence. Life has little meaning unless I
recognise that wherever the fire is kindled, there the Divine presence is also.
To recognise that is the part of
faith; to work and live by that is the power
of faith.”
A strong trust in God. The Divine presence. If you and I
would long to be brave, let us first cultivate our relationship with the Lord. “Be
still,” He says, “And know that I am God.” “Fear not, for I am with you.” “My grace
is sufficient for thee.” Jesus went to the Cross for you and me. Let us then
not doubt His great love in each minute of every day. Failures we are, yes, but
it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. We need to be saved,
yes, but He is a Savior. His name is Jesus, “For He shall save His people from
their sins.” “Let us then come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
If we would be brave let us cultivate our knowledge of God. Speaking of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, someone
said, “They trust in God. They believe His word. But the arm on which they
leaned was omnipotent. The wisdom to which they confided their way was
unlimited. Jehovah cared for them. He had kept them; He would keep them in the
time to come. The truest courage is the calmest.”
Even as I type I’m once again faced with seemingly
overwhelming obstacles at my job and at home. My workload seems overwhelming. Issues
on the home front are threatening. I see plenty to fear. And at the same time I
am feeling deeply my own failures and sins, my unworthiness that the Lord
should even be willing to help me. But what gives me hope? It is not in somehow
resolving to “do better” or to “be brave.” No. Where I find hope is by leaning
into the Everlasting Arms. Where I find hope is being reminded of the greatness
of my God, of the Calvary love of my Savior, of His “very great and precious
promises.” “Lo, I am with you always.” What gives me hope is to see these three
young men and being reminded that their job was simply faith. The Hero of their
story was the Lord in whom they trusted. And He hasn’t changed. He’s there for
me now. The same Jesus who walked with them in the fire walks with me today in
my fires.
Oh for grace to trust Him more.
Nebuchadnezzar could see all that was true on the outside –
even the fact that they “trusted in their God,” but he couldn’t see the
relationship they had cultivated on the inside. He could see faithfulness, but
not the faith itself.
Lord, give us a greater vision of You. Help us to live in the
awareness of Your presence. Help us to live in Your love, to trust Your wisdom,
to rest in Your power. May we be “strengthened in the inner man.” And while You
are doing great things inside of us, may the world around us see not us but
You.
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