Even If

"Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: 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." Daniel 3:10-18

On Saturday, the Lord had me reflecting on this Scripture and told me the following:

The three Hebrew boys here were not showing some sort of bravado when they responded to Nebuchadnezzar. Neither were they daring the Devil to throw all he had at them as if they could take it.  Their statement came simply from a place of faith in God. They knew that their lives were in the Lord's hands and that - even if a fiery trial was to be a part of their future - He would be right there with them...and He was (Daniel 3:23-26).

Remember that there are no surprises to God.  He is not in Heaven trying to figure out how you got in your current situation or how to get you out of it.  He has a plan for each and every life and all He asks is that we follow Him.

Never forget, it is not in our own strength that we stand.  We have been redeemed from the hand of the Devil so that he has no authority over us. However, even if God chooses to use him as part of our being forged into vessels of honor, the Devil never has full access to do with us as he pleases.

Thy will be done.