Purely Powerful Faith

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation."
Isaiah 12:2

Dwell on that phrase from Isaiah 12 with me for a moment: "I will trust and not be afraid." That's a pretty powerful statement. In fact, I don't think you could say anything more powerful than that to God. Take a look at our past patriarchs. They exemplified this kind of faith. Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Elijah, Gideon, and many others trusted in the Lord and were not afraid.

My favorite story of all that shows this kind of pure faith is from Daniel chapter 3. This is the story when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down and worship any other god than the Lord God Almighty. Listen to their statement of faith after they were told they would be thrown into a fiery furnace if they did not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's gods or idols: "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king." (verse 17) They go on to say that even if God doesn't save them, they will never worship the king's false gods. This truly is an example of the purely powerful faith, "I will trust and not be afraid."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's faith in God was so deep, so unadulterated that the possibility of death didn't make them quiver one iota. They even knew that if God wanted them to die in the furnace, then God knew best. They trusted God's decision, God's control, God's purpose in this matter. How about you? How about me? Do we have this kind of faith, this trust? Do we really believe God knows what's best for us? Can we like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego proclaim God will save us from this cancer, this debt, this tragedy, this heartbreak, this job loss, this divorce?  Can we proclaim that even if He doesn't, we will still serve Him?

This amazing story ends unexpectedly. Those three walked right into the furnace. (Oh, to have that kind of faith!) They did not die. In fact God was with them, literally, in that furnace. When they came out--here's the coolest part--not a hair on their heads was singed and there was NO SMELL of fire on them (verse 27)!  Awesome! Praise the LORD!  POWERful faith!  POWERful God!

Have a some purely powerful faith in your life today, whatever you are facing. Know the God the Almighty, whom you serve, is faithful and just and He will deliver you.  Even if He doesn't, still serve Him.  He knows best.  He knows more.  His deliverance may not be here, now, and the way we want; but trust this: HE WILL DELIVER.  Amen.