Today the sermon was about convictions, persecution, and elevation and all sorts of Biblical terms like that. i really enjoyed the sermon-and not only because I can't take my eyes off the handsome one doing the preaching. But as I was driving home, I just couldn't think about the text. It was the story of the three Hebrew children in the firey furnace being delivered by God. I've heard many, many sermons through the years using these scriptures as the text. Today though, the most consuming thought of how big God is was what I came away with. It wasn't even a main point of the sermon, but that's what followed me home.
That same God that delivered the Hebrew children has not changed one little bit since he walked in the midst of the furnance. He would do it again today if the sitation presented itself and it would have the same effect. As I pondered this, I realized that I don't give God enought credit. I don't think about His bigness that goes above and beyond what I think it will take to take care of the particular need I am praying about. I don't remember that nothing is too difficult for God and that He does what He pleases. I forget that what pleases him is faith in His ability to meet any challenge and to win any battle. Sometimes Bible stories seem almost surreal and I forget that these were real people who were just like me and what God did for them He will do for anyone who believes Him the way they did.
Therein lies the key. I must believe like they did. I must know and place my full dependence on God and God alone. When I do, He will move in the greatest of ways. I may not be in a furnace, but no matter where I am and in what situation I am, He is the same God that walked amongst the flames with Shadrac, Mishak and Abednigo. He is the same God that made sure they stepped out of that fire without even one hair on their head singed! And not only does He walk with me, He lives in me! What a thought! What a God!