Monday, July 18, 2005

"Trust and Defy"

"Then Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God'" (Daniel 3:28).

I recall a humorous moment in church about 5 years ago. We were studying the Faith Chapter in Hebrews 11.  Wanting to get the congregation involved I asked "What Old Testament situation was the writer likely referring to when he wrote, 'quenched the fury of the flames?'"  An eager child answered, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." 

Having some Bible College graduates in attendance I asked, "And what were their Hebrew names?"  But without hesitation a young child raised his hand and confidently proclaimed, "Rach, Shak and Bennie." (Now if you have kids or grandkids you're probably laughing right now as these are their nicknames on a popular Veggie Tales tape.  Their proper Hebrew names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.)

The account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is surely one of the greatest stories of deliverance in the Bible.  These three young men demonstrate to believers of all ages the power of faith and obedience. They got into trouble because they refused to compromise a core commandment of God in bowing down to the golden image Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 

Their punishment was being thrown into a fiery furnace.  But God delivered them and they came out of the fire completely unharmed.  The daily verse is actually a statement the secular King Nebuchadnezzar made about them following their deliverance.

Three observations by the king do well to describe all people of faith. 
1) They trusted the living God.
2) They defied the wicked command of the secular king, fully knowing the consequences.
3) They were willing to give up their lives for this conviction. 

I believe true followers of Christ will increasingly need these particular guidelines as the world's systems grow increasingly hostile to Christ, His followers, and the standards of the Bible.  Can this growing disdain and hostility be denied? 

I urge you this day to prepare yourself with core convictions that you will not violate, so that when the time of testing comes, you, like these three young men will stand firm in your faith.  By God's grace and with His strength that's what I plan to do!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Note from Brooksyne:  I'll always remember the incident in church where Garrison raised his hand and confidently answered the question about the Hebrew boys' names being Rack, Shack and Bennie.  The congregation broke into uproarious laughter and poor Garrison shrunk down in his pew.  He had no idea why he was being laughed at.  Dear Mom came to his rescue and tried to help comfort him.  I remember going to him later and trying to smooth over our unintentional rudeness for laughing at him. 

Last Friday I shared about an incredible vision of some believers in China to leave their country and go to Jerusalem sharing the Gospel along the way. A Daily Encouragement reader sent this photo of himself giving a Bible to a Chinese man on a recent visit he made to China. He writes, "What an honor to be able to do this in Beijing. I figured that as long as I wasn't making a spectacle of myself and was discreet that I would be safe. Only one person refused to take a Bible from me. I speak absolutely no Chinese and these people spoke absolutely no English, yet there was an unmistakable communication taking place."

This reminds me of an experience my Dad had in the seventies shortly after China opened again to the West after many years of isolation. My Dad worked for a construction company and was sent to China to supervise a project. He smuggled in about ten Bibles for distribution as well. He was assigned to a project (it was a power plant as I recall) deep into the country where he would have been the very first white man many of the Chinese nationals had ever seen. Now my Dad had some weight issues and particularly, quite visibly carried his weight in his stomach. He told me how the Chinese people would come up to him and pat his stomach as if to see if it was real! My dad went to be with the Lord in 1998 and only heaven will reveal the effects of his labor in passing out Bibles and seeking to be a witness for the Lord.  It's that way for all of us.

Yesterday a farmer friend of mine expressed thanks to God for the rains we have been getting. We have really gotten some great rain this last week after a long, very dry period. This morning Brooksyne took this photo of me in front of the cornfield across the road. I am over 6 feet 2 inches so you can imagine how tall the corn is!