The Confidence of Faith

This post is part of a devotional series based on our 2019 Bible Reading Calendar.

“If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” ~ Daniel 3:17-18

Faith in God gives us confidence to face difficult circumstances and even death.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three friends of Daniel, served well in Nebuchadnezzar’s government. Yet, when the king built a giant statue and demanded everyone under his rule worship before it, these three, being faithful Jews, refused. When the music played and everyone else fell to the ground, they stood firm, even in the threat of death.

They were given a second chance, and even then, they refused. When faced with the rage of the king and the threat of death via a fiery furnace, they still stood firm. And why?

Because they knew that God was greater than the king of Babylon, the most powerful nation of that time. They knew that God was big enough to rescue them. Yet, as they told Nebuchadnezzar, even if God did not spare their lives, they would still not worship the idol. They knew that God was worthy of supreme glory.

Such confidence we can have by faith in God through Jesus.

We hope not to face a threat like these three faced, but even if we do, our faith leads us to strength and confidence.

Jesus, after all, is the Resurrection and the Life, as he told Martha in John 11. If we have Jesus, even if someone is to kill us, the worst they can do is usher us into the joyful presence of our Savior-King. Even if they destroy this body in a fire, we will get a glorious one in the resurrection.

Faith gives us confidence to face the extremes. How much more the ups and downs of daily life?

All Scripture quotations taken from the Christian Standard Bible.