Standing Up For God

When God rewarded the faithfulness of the three Jewish boys by delivering them from the fiery furnace, little did they know their stand and God's actions would transform, albeit temporarily, the Babylonians' worship practices.

According to the narrative, after the boys' miraculous deliverance, "Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort" (Daniel 3:28-29, KJV). In addition, like an afterthought we learn, "Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon" (v. 30).

Have you ever wondered what transformation would take place in our homes, our schools, our churches, our businesses, our nations, if Christians everywhere stood firm on their convictions? Being a Christian can sometimes feel like swimming upstream while everybody and everything else is going downstream. It would be great if God would somehow steer us away from those situations that require having to make those seemingly tough decisions to be fair and honest; to stand up for what is right, just, and true. As societies become more secular and unashamedly opposed to absolute values of right and wrong, Christians are called upon to stay the course, to lift Jesus even higher. To sacrifice all, even one's life if necessary.

However, God does not always steer or deliver us from challenging situations. As He did with Shedrach and his friends, He allows us to walk these difficult paths to demonstrate His power and His glory in and through us. As someone so rightly puts it, "Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, He calms the sailor. And sometimes He makes us swim." One thing we are assured of is that when He makes us swim, as the fourth man in the fiery furnace was with the boys, we are never alone.

The Jewish boys' faithfulness produced results - their deliverance, their promotion, and a change in Babylon's worship practices. What changes does God have in store when you take a stand in your sphere of influence? Do you trust Him enough to find out even if you are the only one left standing?