Trust His Answer

 

We’ve never really given a problem over to God until we completely trust Him with the outcome.

So much of our faith in prayer is tied to getting God to do what we think is best. We rejoice as long as God does what we ask or as long as God responds as we think He should.  But what if God has other plans? Is He any less faithful?

The truth is, God sometimes does have plans that differ from our own agenda.  As we pray, we must be willing to accept whatever God determines best.  That’s never easy, but it’s a place we must come to in our understanding of the Holy One.

We all know the story of the three Hebrew young men (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) and the fiery furnace.  The story is found in Daniel chapter 3.  A decree went out from the Babylonian king that everyone in the province was to bow down to the golden statue (an idol), and if anyone refused, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace.  I love the approach of these three men in verse 17 when they said that God is able to deliver them and “…he will deliver us.” That was their hope and their prayer I’m sure. In verse 18 they say, “But if not…” let it be known we still won’t bow. And we know the rest of the story.  They did not bow to this idol, and just as promised, they were thrown into the furnace of fire, but God did spare their lives.  It wasn’t what they hoped for, but none-the-less, they were prepared to accept the outcome.

What an example for us today!  These three men provide a lesson for all of us.  We must trust God, even if He chooses to work in a different way than we would like.  Not only did God spare their lives, but the king was so impressed with what He witnessed that day, he promoted them to a higher level in His administration (verse 30).

I’ll repeat it again; we’ve never really given a problem over to God until we can completely trust Him with the outcome.  So pray, pray fervently, and be prepared, when God has another plan.


The Pastor's Pocket

Pastor Bruce Freeman

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