Day 5: He will deliver us
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us… (Daniel 3:17).
Father, You are a mighty God! We see Your sovereign outstretched hand and Your great power in all of creation and in all of life and existence. Great are Your purposes and mighty are Your deeds (Jeremiah 32:17, 19).
By Your sovereign will and plan You have assigned us time and work for a time here on earth. You have told us that we will encounter trials, difficulties, and struggles, especially as we seek to live for You. Nothing is too hard for You; yet even our Lord Jesus Himself was subjected to all the hardships and discomforts of this broken world when He emptied Himself and was made in human likeness (Philippians 2:7-8).
We remember how He told us, "‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also" (John 15:20).
Yet, whatever our lot we know that You remain faithful. We are strengthened when we see time and again in Your word that You shelter Your children from harm, from danger, and from human malevolence: In the shelter of Your presence you hide [those who take refuge in You] from all human intrigues; You keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues (Psalm 31:20).
Still, our Father, we don't have the divine perspective You do. We are mindful that many who have served You have been called to great sacrifice (Hebrews 11:35-38). But the apostle Paul puts it into perspective for us:
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32).
Help us to know in our hearts like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that "the God we serve is able to deliver us." Help us, like them, to be assured that even if You do not, we can trust Your plan. (Daniel 3:17-18).
Lord, teach us to place our full confidence in You. In these days of change and confusion, fickleness and instability, give us the courage to stand firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9). Give us the resolve like Daniel and his friends to "let nothing move [us]." Help us to "always give [ourselves] fully to the work of the Lord," knowing "that [our] labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
