But If Not: Part I

Even if you didn’t grow up in Sunday school you’ve probably heard some version of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were the three young Hebrews who stood up to the infamous Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and refused to bow down before his golden idol despite threat of execution. Anyone who did not bow down and worship the massive statue was to be thrown into the fiery furnace at once, an apt manifestation of the powerful king’s wrath.

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were captives in a foreign land, essentially helpless, defenseless, but in a crowd of thousands of their countrymen cowering with faces to the ground, these three stood tall and fearless. They were ridiculously bold, outrageously audacious as they declared “We are not careful to answer, you, O King” (Daniel 3:16 KJV) paraphrase: “We don’t have to explain ourselves to you.”  Boldly and baldly they stated they would not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol no matter what he threatened or did to them.

 “Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King,” they said (Daniel 3:17). They were unflinching before this world-famous king whose conquering armies had just decimated their homeland and carted their people off as slaves, whose extravagant hanging gardens were among the wonders of the ancient world, and whose empire was the most powerful of its day.

 In their devotion to God, the God of their homeland and their ancestors, the God who assured their identity as more than slaves in a foreign land, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego scorned the king’s threats. Their utter lack of intimidation mocked Nebuchadnezzar’s threat of terrible death, their being burnt alive in his dreadful fiery furnace. Their stance belittled him and his weapon into a petulant child with a campfire which so enraged the tyrant that he ordered the furnace be stoked hotter than ever.

 Still, the men to be chained and tossed into this inferno were unafraid. Still, they were certain of their deliverance. “Our God is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known to thee, O King, we still will not bow down” (Daniel 3:17-18).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew there were only two possible outcomes: either God would take them out of the furnace and King Nebuchadnezzar would be amazed, or they would die and go to be with God where they would be even more amazed in His presence. Either way, they would win. Either way, they would be delivered. Either way, they had nothing to fear for God was on their side.

 Neither King Nebuchadnezzar nor his guards understood the peace these men had as they stood without trembling before such a ruthless conqueror, as they were sentenced to death, as they were bound tightly from head to foot and tossed into a furnace burning so furiously the guards nearest the furnace were themselves consumed by the flames.

Neither the king nor his guards believed in the God of the Hebrews. They thought a god who would let his people be conquered either could not or would not bother to then save three men from burning to death. Because surely a god of any real supremacy or goodness would not allow his servants to be placed in such a position at all. Surely a god who loved and cared for his people, who had the power to give life and heal sickness and smite the wicked would protect those people from invaders, would simply destroy their enemies utterly. That’s what a good god would do, right?

That’s what we want a good god to do—protect us from harm and give us all we ask for. Keep us from situations where we must choose between standing up and execution. Keep us from the furnace. From the lions’ den. From the cistern. From prison. From flogging. From eviction. From betrayal. From rape. From slavery. From being widowed or orphaned. From miscarriages or the loss of a child. From sickness, hunger, depression, and loneliness. 

A good god would not let these things happen. Would not let these sufferings afflict his children. Would not let a good man die torturously on a cross for crimes he didn’t commit. From the midst of our hurt we might think so. From the cross, the pit, the furnace, from the sickbed, the graveside, the jailcell, we might think there is no good god.

 But even when blind with pain, remember that there is One Good God. Every thought He has for us is good. He is incapable of evil thoughts. And although He may allow suffering in our lives, He allows it to come to pass. It will not stay; it will not thwart our destiny.

“For I know the thoughts that I think of you saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).

God knows exactly when this particular trouble crushing you will end, when this particular suffering will conclude and you will be through it. He has everything planned out, meticulously, scrupulously, astoundingly detailed like a tapestry woven with a thousand colored threads. In the middle of the mess of our misery and befuddlement we can only see the tangle of overlapping strands, dangling ends, and awkward knots. God, the Creator, can see the whole completed masterpiece as a sumptuous wall-hanging across the room: every thread perfectly fitted to form an elaborate, gorgeous image.

 God has a plan. God has had a Plan since the Beginning, and the most important part of the Plan has already happened. The pivotal moment occurred when the War for the World was won, long ago, through suffering. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if we believe in the Good God, we know we will be delivered. We can say with absolute audacious certainty that we need not fear that fiery furnace, or the lions’ den, or the prison cell, or the hospital room, unemployment, eviction, or gangsters. We know that we Win either way, whether by God stepping in and working a visible miracle for the world to see, like eradicating the cancer or dropping an envelope of cash in the mailbox; or by God taking us out of the world and unto Himself in Heaven. We will celebrate either way: joyously here on Earth or far more abundantly when we meet again in Heaven. That is the assurance of the Christian, the person who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior.

 It’s not an easy assurance. Life is hard for us broken people in this broken world dominated by Satan, the Enemy, whose only goal is our destruction. Every evil is his weapon: from depression to jealousy to arthritis to pornography to gossip to addiction to fear. Division is his delight. He’s cunning and conniving and feeds us lies like candy. Convincing people of his nonexistence has been his greatest trick, in the words of Charles Baudelaire: “la plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas!” Le joueur Généreux/The Generous Gambler 1864. Do not underestimate Satan.

Thank God, Satan constantly underestimates God.

 As Pastor Raymond Woodward says, “While the devil is feverishly playing checkers God is playing chess, and He’s got him outwitted, outgunned, outmaneuvered, and out-moved every single time!”

 God sees not merely several steps ahead but to the very end of the game, even beyond the game to the other side, to the victory awaiting us. He sees us in our suffering and grieves with us in our pain, but He does not despair for He knows what Good is waiting beyond the trial. God Himself shapes that coming Good, for as He promised, He considers us with “thoughts of peace” and deliberately designed that “expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). While Satan may be playing games with our days, feverishly leaping checkers and piling sorrows upon miseries, all his schemes cannot detract from God’s Grand Master Plans for our lives.

Our trials are allowed by God—and they are limited by God. No matter the trial, it cannot thwart God’s purpose. Not only so, but the trial brings about God’s purpose.

Trials are allowed by God. Trials are limited by God. Trials cannot thwart God’s purpose. Trials bring about God’s purpose.

 The prophet Jeremiah learned this even after he’d watched his city burn and his people carried off in chains. After he’d endured the worst day of his life, this long-suffering man of God took up his pen once again and wrote that God’s mercies were new every morning and His compassions were unfailing. “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed…great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Job maintained this even after he’d lost everything: his lands, wealth, children, health, even the love of his wife. With empty, boil-scarred hands, he sat in the dust and praised God. “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him…Indeed this will turn out for my deliverance” (Job 13:15-16).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were sure of this as they stood up before a tyrant king and his guards, as they scorned his fiery furnace. They declared their allegiance to their God even unto death.

Jesus’ assurance of this, and his shared great love for humanity, caused him to stand guilty for crimes he didn’t commit, to volunteer as tribute for torturous punishment, to sacrifice himself in place of the real agitators and convicts. He bared his back to flogging, then heaved a heavy cross upon his back and carried it through the streets and up a hill, bearing the shame of that public parade, the crowds who knew only the worst offenders warranted crosses, laid himself down naked before all those scoffers, opened his hands to the soldiers who hammered nails through them, watched with gentle eyes as he was heaved upward, the ugliest of bloody spectacles. His only response to the jeers and accusations, the temptation to call ten thousand angels to his rescue, was to ask forgiveness for his executioners, who had already accepted the blame for his blood on themselves and their children.

Then Jesus died, after hours of agony, and the jubilant mood of his human enemies was nothing compared to the ebullience of Satan’s assured victory.

“I’ve got you this time!” was probably what the devil was crowing, toasting himself and boasting his brilliance and permanent ownership of the Earth and all wretched souls therein.

To everyone watching, indeed, God’s Plan seemed a failure. Jesus’ disciples, despite his forewarnings, couldn’t believe he had died. His eleven closest followers were as lost and bereaved as the rest of his friends, grieving and terrified that they would be next on the Roman execution list. So many had seen Jesus as the One God had promised: someone for whom long ago Job, Jeremiah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had hoped. With his death, they were devastated, wondering if God really would ever deliver them. Perhaps they’d better bow down to the system, bend down to the golden idol of the Romans, and simply forget their faith and their convictions.

 That’s how it feels sometimes.

We’d be better off giving in. We’d be better off avoiding all this suffering. Surely life would be better without sickness, break-ups, theft, corruption, late fees, crime and punishment? If we had the power of a good god, we’d make better choices—we would not allow all of this hurt. I’ve certainly thought this way, certainly asserted sometimes to God that “it’s just not fair” and “enough is enough!” and wondered why He doesn’t simply STOP the trauma. Pull us out of the furnace. Pull us out of COVID-19, out of the clutches of gangsters and kidnappers, out of poverty and famine.

 God’s response is always gentle. Rather than smite me or knock me back with a thunder blast, the LORD of all Creation speaks kindly to me, as a loving Father. No matter how many times I make the same mistake or repeat the same complaints, He is patient. God’s mercies are new and His compassion unfailing.

Here, He speaks through the wise words of writer Kimberly Henderson:

“I would have pulled Joseph out. Out of that pit. Out of that prison. Out of that pain. And I would have cheated nations out of the one God would use to deliver them from famine.

I would have pulled David out. Out of Saul’s spear-throwing presence. Out of the caves he hid away in. Out of the pain of rejection. And I would have cheated Israel out of a God-hearted king.

I would have pulled Esther out. Out of being snatched from her only family. Out of being placed in a position she never asked for. Out of the path of a vicious, power-hungry foe. And I would have cheated a people out of the woman God would use to save their very lives.

And I would have pulled Jesus off. Off of the cross. Off of the road that led to suffering and pain. Off of the path that would mean nakedness and beatings, nails and thorns. And I would have cheated the entire world out of a Savior. Out of salvation. Out of an eternity filled with no more suffering and no more pain.

And oh friend. I want to pull you out. I want to change your path. I want to stop your pain. But right now I know I would be wrong. I would be out of line. I would be cheating you and cheating the world out of so much good. Because God knows. He knows the good this pain will produce.

He knows the beauty this hard will grow. He’s watching over you and keeping you even in the midst of this. And He’s promising you that you can trust Him. Even when it all feels like more than you can bear.

So instead of trying to pull you out, I’m lifting you up. I’m kneeling before the Father and I’m asking Him to give you strength. To give you hope. I’m asking Him to protect you and to move you when the time is right. I’m asking Him to help you stay prayerful and discerning. I’m asking Him how I can best love you and be a help to you. And I’m believing He’s going to use your life in powerful and beautiful ways. Ways that will leave your heart grateful and humbly thankful for this road you’ve been on."

Kimberly D. Henderson, 2017 ©

Works Cited

·        Henderson, Kimberly D. “When You Feel Painfully and Hopelessly Stuck in a Season You Don’t Want to Be In.” WordPress, 23 Sept. 2020, https://kdhenderson.wordpress.com/2020/09/23/when-you-feel-painfully-and-hopelessly-stuck-in-a-season-you-dont-want-to-be-in/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog. Accessed 21 Nov. 2021.

·        KB. “Heart Song.” Weight & Glory, Reach Records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2daj3G0LVKY

·        King James Version. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

·        King, Martin Luther. “But If Not.” YouTube. 5 Nov. 1967, Atlanta, Ebenezer Baptist Church, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOjpaIO2seY. Accessed 21 Nov. 2021.

·        Lagazettedesydney. “A Very Actual Old French Poem: The Generous Gambler.” 1864, https://lagazettedesydney.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/a-very-actual-old-french-poem-the-generous-gambler/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

·        MercyMe. “Even If.” Lifer, The Orchard Music, Nashville, Tennessee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y

·        Woodward, Raymond. “But If Not.” YouTube. 1 Aug. 2021, Capital Community Church, Capital Community Church, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORmSm_VdkEg. Accessed 21 Nov. 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORmSm_VdkEg