But If Not...

For those of you who heard the VBS testimonies on Sunday this is going to be somewhat of the same thing that I was trying to say instead of bawling my eyes out! Its just that God has really been continuing to remind and teach me about this since VBS and I see how shallow my faith is compared to so many great leaders, missionaries and regular people from both the past and the present. After hearing that Bible lesson at VBS about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I wanted to read the story for myself. Not that I hadn't heard it before, of course, but there was something in that story this time that just seemed to hit me anew. I went home and searched my Bible till I found the story of the fiery furnace. I read through most of the chapter and then I found the verses that I now know God had meant for me to find. Daniel 3:15-18b "but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee 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 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." When I read that it felt like they were almost preaching right at me. They were telling the king that though they knew he could throw them into the furnace in an instant, they also knew that their God was greater and that if He wanted to, He could get them out. They didn't tell the king that they were going to serve God IF He delivered them. They said they were going to serve God simply because they knew that He COULD save them. They realized the power of their God! They knew that He might not choose to save them and yet they were willing to take a tremendous stand simply because they knew that their God was powerful enough to deliver them if He wanted. This was really convicting for me. Is my faith really so shallow? How many times have I prayed for something (Like for a bunch of the kids at VBS to get saved) and then when God doesn't answer the way I asked or expected Him too, I get all upset and start to question Him. I wonder what in the world He is doing and show that I do not truly believe in Him. I simply want to use Him as a crutch to get what I want. Studying the lives of the three men in Daniel showed me that God doesn't want me to act based only on what I see Him do for me...He also wants me to act on the knowledge and truth of the fact that He is powerful enough to take three men through a fire, unharmed and without a hint of the smell of smoke on them. He wants me to go through trials or take a stand, with a strong faith in Him alone and resting in the fact that I know my God is powerful enough to do whatever He wants!

Ok, so after I shared some of this in the testimony Sunday night, Dr. Curtis came up to me and told me a story that goes along with those verses in Daniel. (Apparently my blubbering didn't stop him from being able to understand me. =) He asked me if I had ever heard of Don Kirk. I said "Who?" and he just started smiling. Apparently its not Don Kirk but rather Dunkirk and its not a person but a place. Ok, so I may be my fathers daughter but that doesn't mean I have his knack for history! ;) Anyways...you can Google this story online as the miracle at Dunkirk and lots of information will come up. Here is the story...

In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk. To everyone's surprise the Germans halted their advance to regroup. As England and the world waited for what appeared to be the sure and certain annihilation of 350,000 men a three word message was transmitted from the besieged army at Dunkirk. It read simply, "But if not." The British people understood the biblical import of the cryptic message. It was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel, where Daniel and his friends chose death rather than worship an image of the pagan king, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Daniel 3:17-18). The British Expeditionary Army, surrounded, cutoff and on the brink of destruction was declaring to Britain and to the world that even in apparent defeat they were, in fact, victorious. The message, more eloquent than a sermon delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, galvanized the British people. In a matter of hours thousands of boats of every description, from yachts to fishing boats, headed across the dangerous waters of the English Channel and, at the risk of their own lives from enemy fire, began the evacuation of the heroic but beleaguered army in what historians now refer to as "the miracle of Dunkirk."

Our God is powerful. Our God is good. He can do whatever He wants and if He chooses to rescue us from trials then we will praise Him. But if not, we can still rest in His arms, knowing that He is in control. AMEN AND AMEN!!!!

In Awe of Him,
Chrystal