“Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18

It’s amazing how quickly circumstances around us can change. What is it about life that shakes you? Is the threat of disease? Fear of suffering or death? Fear of losing someone you love? Political upheaval? Rumors of wars? An economy in turmoil? The truth is that we live in a world that is broken, and these things (and others) will continue to wreak havoc on our planet until King Jesus returns and sets everything right. In the meantime, we have a choice: will we do whatever we can to try and preserve our lives, or will we entrust our lives to the hands of a Sovereign God and follow Him fearlessly wherever He leads us, even into the face of death itself?

Even If He Does Not

This wasn’t the first time Hananiah and his friends had faced death. Three of them had just been summoned to appear before the king, and this time they were certain it wasn’t to receive a promotion. They had defied him and would now face the consequences. As they were being brought to the royal court, Hananiah’s mind drifted back to years ago when their adventure away from home had first begun…

As Jewish boys growing up in the northern part of the Kingdom of Judah, they were handsome and well-educated, part of the king’s family and the nobility. In fact, Hananiah was the king’s grandson, though not in the direct line of rule. His three closest friends, Daniel, Mishael (Hananiah’s cousin), and Azariah were known as princes in the land. But not long after King Jehoiakim began his rule, everything changed. A foreign nation rose up against Jerusalem and besieged it. And something devastating happened. The Lord gave the king of Judah into the hand of a foreign king, Nebuchadnezzar. This king not only stole some of the vessels of the house of the Lord and took them to the treasure house of his own god, but he captured many of the people of Jerusalem, including the four young friends.

Hananiah remembered the terrible fear he felt that day. When the enemy had first begun their siege, he had prayed fervently to the God of Israel for His protection and deliverance. He had faith and knew that God was able to save His people. But his hopes were crushed when the enemy soldiers broke through the walls and conquered the city and carried him away. He had been separated from his friends and family, from home and everything that was familiar to him. He faced death that day. But by the grace of God his life was spared.

Upon their arrival to the foreign city of Babylon, the four friends were soon reunited. The language was strange to them, but they were made to understand by Ashpenaz, chief of the court officials, that they were to be taught the ways of the Babylonians, including the language, literature, and culture, and when three years of learning were complete, they would enter the king’s service.

They had so many questions in those early days of life in Babylon…How could they continue to worship the Lord while in a foreign land? How could they keep from becoming defiled by the culture around them, especially while they were being intentionally trained and indoctrinated in it? What would become of their faith? Why would the Lord abandon his people like this?

Daniel had been the strong one then; his faith in his God was unshakeable, even when their world had seemingly crumbled around them. He was a young man of great resolve, and the Lord caused the chief official over them to look with favor and compassion on Daniel. He and his friends were allowed to eat food other than what came from the king’s table, and thus they were able to escape the defilement that would have come from eating the royal food and wine. And God blessed them with great knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning, so much so that after the appointed time, King Nebuchadnezzar found none equal to them in every matter of wisdom and understanding, and they entered the king’s service.

Hananiah’s mind momentarily snapped back to current reality. They would soon face the king’s wrath and verdict, for they had just entered the royal court. This was where their friend Daniel had remained years ago after his promotion as the ruler over all the provinces of Babylon. It had happened after the God of heaven had once again been gracious to them and spared them from certain death. Hananiah remembered what happened, as if it was yesterday…

The king had had a dream that greatly troubled him. He summoned all his magicians, sorcerers and astrologers, and in order to make sure he could trust the dream’s interpretation, he required them to first tell him his dream and then interpret it. The punishment for failure to do so was death, while the reward would be many gifts and great honor. The astrologers were unable to tell the king his dream, saying that only the gods could reveal such a thing. So the king issued a decree to put all the wise men of Babylon, including Hananiah and his three friends, to death.

But Daniel spoke with great wisdom to the commander of the king’s guard, asking for time so that he might interpret the dream for the king. When Daniel returned and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what was happening, he urged them to pray and plead with the God of heaven for mercy concerning this matter. If God did not reveal this mystery, they would die, along with all the other wise men of Babylon. Their lives were once again in His hands.

And God was gracious. He did indeed reveal the mystery to Daniel, in a vision in the night. So Daniel went before the king and told him both the dream and its interpretation, making clear to the king that only God in heaven could reveal such mysteries. At that time King Nebuchadnezzar honored Daniel by making him the ruler of the entire province of Babylon, as well as appointing Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as administrators over the province.

Back in the present, Hananiah was filled with peace as he remembered these things. He turned and spoke softly to his friends. “Mishael, Azariah, let us remember who we serve. Do you remember how the God of heaven preserved our lives when our beloved city was besieged, and we were taken into captivity all those years ago? Do you remember how God was gracious to reveal to Daniel the king’s dream and save us from his wrath and judgment? The Lord is the unshakeable one. He is able to deliver us again. But no matter what happens, we serve and trust Him alone.” His friends smiled, their eyes shining with the same peace that filled Hananiah’s heart and mind, a peace that could not be explained. For just this morning they had faced yet another shaking, another event that had the potential to change their lives forever, or even end them in a few short moments.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a proud and evil man, one who craved power and worship. He did not love or worship the God of heaven. Instead, he had created an image of gold and summoned all his provincial officials to come to its dedication and stand before the image. When all the people were gathered, the herald proclaimed that when the people heard the music begin to play, everyone must fall down and worship the image of gold. Failure to do so would result in death by blazing furnace.

Of course, because they were officials in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were gathered there with the others. Hananiah had seen the statue being built earlier and had wondered if this day would come. And now they were faced with a choice. They could save their lives by worshiping the statue and thus deny the God of heaven, or they could stand alone, stand for what was true and right; they could put their lives once again into the hands of the Sovereign God whom they had served their entire lives. The choice was clear. They could not bow down. And now they faced the king and the consequences.

The three men now stood in front of King Nebuchadnezzar. He was furious with rage. But they remembered the God that they served.

The king spoke, “I have been informed by a reliable source that you refuse to serve my gods or worship the image of gold that I have made. You are some of my most trusted officials. I am going to give you one more chance. When the music begins to play, if you are ready to fall down on your faces and worship the image I have created, that is very good. But know that I speak truly when I tell you that if you still refuse to worship the image I have made, I will immediately throw you into a blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Hananiah, with his friends on either side of him, filled with confidence and resolve, replied, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If you throw us into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to deliver us from it. And He will deliver us from your hand! But know this, O king, that even if He does not deliver us from the blazing furnace, we will never serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you have set up.”

The king became so angry at this reply that he immediately ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. “This is it,” whispered Hananiah to his friends. “This is when our God will either show up and deliver us, or we get to meet Him face to face. But either way, our trust is in Him.”

The three friends were tied up tightly by the strongest men in the king’s army, and as they were thrown into the blazing furnace, in the space of a blink, Hananiah was aware of multiple things simultaneously. First, the men who threw them into the furnace immediately died by the flames. And yet he didn’t feel hot at all and couldn’t even smell any fire or smoke. There were no longer any ropes binding his arms and legs. His mind and vision were clear, and he was acutely aware of what was happening around him. His friends were also unbound and began walking over to him. At that moment, all three were aware of a fourth Man with them in the fire, who shone whiter than the sun in all its glory. Hananiah was overwhelmed with wonder and cried out, “Praise be to the God of heaven! He has sent us a Deliverer!” And then they heard the voice of King Nebuchadnezzar outside the furnace, calling them to come out.

They walked out of the fire, completely unharmed, with no smell of fire on them nor even a hair of their heads singed. The king and all his governors and royal advisors who had gathered around were completely amazed, and the king said, “Surely you are servants of the Most High God! Praise be to Him, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants! You trusted in Him and defied my command…you were willing to give up even your very lives rather than serve or worship any god except your own God. Truly no other god can save or deliver in this way!”

The three friends smiled at each other in silent awe and thanksgiving to the God of heaven. For what the king spoke was true. They were and always would be the Lord’s servants. No matter what their future held, they would continue to worship Him alone. For they knew that He is worthy, the only God who can deliver in this way, and the only God whose Kingdom can never be shaken.

A few thoughts

I believe that one of the reasons that God allows shaking to occur in our lives is to reveal what is really in our hearts. For me, it was fear. It is easy to say that I trust God completely, but when I first heard of the threat of a worldwide pandemic almost a year ago, I was terrified. God used external circumstances to shake me. But in everything He does, He is so good and loving. He reveals those things in us for the purpose of changing us and removing the things that are not of Him and His Kingdom. In His grace He removes fear and replaces it with peace.

If we truly desire to be disciples of Jesus, He will lead us to walk in the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than the ways of the kingdoms of this world. The ways of the world’s system are self-preservation, control, and fear. In contrast, the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven are self-denial, surrender, and peace.

Consider how Jesus once healed a leper (Matthew 8:1-4). He first touched him. No one in that day would ever think of touching a leper; lepers were unclean and rejected by society, because the people were afraid of getting their disease and wanted to preserve their own lives.

Consider also the stories from centuries ago of when plagues would sweep through an area and people were dying so fast they could not be buried. When everyone else was fleeing the area to preserve their own lives, it was the Christians who stayed behind and took care of the sick and dying, often falling sick and dying themselves.

Again, we see the contrast. The way of the world is to flee and do whatever you can to preserve your life. But the way of the Kingdom is to stay and lay down your life for your brother or sister.

When you worship or are heavily influenced by something or someone, you think about it constantly. You orient your whole life around that thing. You make decisions with that thing or person in mind. So by this definition, what do you worship? What controls you? Do you orient your life around staying healthy? Staying safe? Having enough money to live comfortably? Trying to be liked by everyone? Or do you orient your life around the Lord and His Kingdom values of peace, self-sacrifice, family, community, etc.?

Control is an illusion. We don’t have control over the day of our death, or even what will happen tomorrow. Only God controls and knows. That is why surrender to Him is the way of His Kingdom, the way of peace.

And so here it is in summary, that the God whom we serve is able to save us from sickness and death, war and upheaval. But even if He does not, we must not bow down to or worship fear, self-preservation, or anything else of the kingdom of the world!

Church, it is time to rise up. It is time to do more than talk about what Jesus did and how He lived. It is time to actually walk in the ways of the living King Jesus. Because if you belong to Him, you are a citizen of a Kingdom that can never be shaken.

*The story above is taken from Daniel chapters 1-3. While the main points of the story come directly out of the Bible, a few details have been added and liberties have been taken by use of sanctified imagination, for the purpose of engaging with the emotion and reality of people in the story. I would encourage you to read the Biblical chapters for yourself and let the Lord speak to you through them.