Sometimes we are put into positions where we have no choice but to trust God totally and completely, exercising a maximum effort of faith that He will work our situation out. And then there are times when we just rely on Him to get us to our destination without ever even acknowledging Him. We just assume that we will get to where we’re going without a hitch. In both instances God is going to see us through but our reaction to everything that involves us should be through prayer. Prayer should be a daily routine and even more so when we are faced with challenging situations. It is through prayer that we put our petitions before God, wait on Him while trusting Him to give us the victory as He gets the glory.
Trusting God is saying to Him that we rely on Him and Him alone. In return, He says for us to rest in Him, be patient, have faith and praise Him for the work He’s about to do. He says to us that He will fight the battle for us, so stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He says for us to “acknowledge My might” and I will show you things you never knew. He declares that there is no one like Him who can do great and mighty things. “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33: 3) He says that He swears by no other. “I have sworn by Myself, the Word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” (Isaiah 45: 23)
Trusting God on the mountain top is so much different than the valley and wilderness experience. Being up is easy, breezy happiness with the assurance that God is in control and that He’s got the situation under control. Being down requires a press. Sometimes a humongous press. We all vary in what we can handle, so what is easy for you may be a giant for me. No one can live a life free from problems, pain, trouble or difficulty. They are unavoidable. From God’s perspective however, it is in the valley where we are equipped, prepared and strengthened for the climb to the top of the mountain where God is leading us to. He disciplines and prunes us in order to grow and use us for His Kingdom. When tested we may feel isolated, lonely, forsaken or forgotten but God will always honor His Word as we are faithful and trust Him. “I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 24: 14) He desires to reveal Himself to us and to communicate with His children. Answered prayer is one of the greatest sources that He can use to get our attention and we in turn give Him the glory. So it is wasted time when we feel alienated from God.
When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (also known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego), refused to bow down to the golden image made by king Nebuchadnezzar, the power of God would be revealed right in the midst of the fire as they addressed the king when he threatened to throw them in the fiery furnace. “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 thine hand, O king. 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. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellers, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3: 17-25) The fire had no power over them! “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” (Daniel 3: 27) They were willing to trust God even if it cost them their lives. As for us, our furnace is in our wilderness experiences. “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48: 10)
Now these Hebrew boys had a companion named Daniel who didn’t let anything or anyone stop his worship of the Lord God Almighty. He was faithful to God and served Him with an excellent spirit. But just like us, Daniel had his share of jealous haters who sought not only to remove him from his position of favor with the king, but also wanted to have him killed. Knowing of Daniel’s faithfulness to God, they verbally manipulated the king, convincing him to issue a royal decree warning the people not to petition any God or man for 30 days. The penalty for violating this decree was to be thrown into the lion’s den. And just as they had calculated, Daniel was unfazed. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.” (Daniel 6: 10-11)
Content with their treachery, these evil men happily reported Daniel’s civil transgression to the king and also reminded him of his obligation to uphold the decree that he had signed. And though the king favored Daniel and tried to figure out a way to save him, he sadly complied with enforcing the decree that he was tricked into issuing. “Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee. And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.” (Daniel 6: 14, 16-17)
But Daniel believed in and put his trust in God. By placing God first, his allegiance to the Lord resulted in him finding honor and favor with God as well as with the king who fasted on behalf of Daniel. “Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.” (Daniel 6: 18-23)
As for Daniel’s enemies, God’s faithfulness to His Word and His children is that He would contend with those who trouble us. “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.” (2 Thessalonians 1: 6) And He did just that with those men who rose up against Daniel. “And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.” (Daniel 6: 24)
Relishing in the joyous and miraculous outcome of this event, the king made another decree honoring the one and only living God. “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, Who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6: 26-27)
The preceding stories are examples of how our Christian life is all about living our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God and for the honor and glory of God. It is impossible to be neutral with respect to God. There is no neutral zone! You are either with Him or against Him. A disciple or an enemy. Jesus said, “He that is not with Me is against Me…” (Matthew 12: 30) And it is not always about God blessing us. It’s also about us bringing Him glory with our lives, attitudes, marriages, family, finances, jobs and ministries. Some people do things that they believe to be right in their own eyes and by their own standards. But godly people do things that are in accordance to God’s will and they are governed by godly standards. This is why we put our trust in Him. We keep His commandments with Him and He keeps His covenant with us.
Another example of faith and trust is found in the story of Mary and Martha, Jewish sisters who had the confidence that Jesus could heal their ill brother Lazarus. But when Lazarus died, could they still trust in Him to raise him up from the dead? Where our strength fails, God’s grace prevails and Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. When word was sent to Him that Lazarus was sick, “… he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” (John 11: 4) So when Lazarus died Jesus came to Bethany after Lazarus had been in the grave for 4 days. Both Mary and Martha believed that if Jesus had been there their brother would not have died. But this sickness would be for the glory of God that His Son might be glorified. “Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11: 25-26)
So when Mary came to where Jesus was, she fell down at His feet. “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him.” (John 11: 33-45)
Now Lazarus was undeniably, certifiably and reliably dead. Knowing this, we should never give up on God even when we have dead or dying marriages, relationships, etc. Some things may be delayed but not denied. Jesus’ power was manifested to increase their faith so that they all would believe in Him. This story not only demonstrates Jesus’ authority over life and death, it also shows His compassion and empathy. He wept and showed His humanity and His ability to feel deep emotions. Jesus used this historical event to prepare the world for the fact that He is able to do this type of incredible miracle for His beloved friends. Not only does He have the power to bring the dead back to life physically, more importantly He can do it spiritually of which we are witnesses.
Hear me, Warriors of God. Develop spiritual stamina for when problems occur. Don’t react out of emotions but out of wisdom as you trust in God. Whether we’re rejoicing on the mountain top or crying in the valley low, whether we’re sitting amid the ashes or singing among the flowers, in every season and in all circumstances know that God is good so continue to put your trust in Him.
“And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.” (Psalm 9: 10)
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