A Christian who cowers with fear
and trepidation at all threats and challenges of life really doesn’t know the
God he or she claims to serve.
Such a Christian is one the Lord
describes as, “O, ye of little faith” and is not deeply rooted and built up in
Christ nor established in the faith that moves mountains. The body of Christ
doesn’t rejoice in cowardice for we have not been given the spirit of fear but
of power, love and sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
We should know that there will
always be oppositions and daunting times in every believer’s life. Daily, our
adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. He is still in the business of killing, stealing and destroying the
souls of men (John 10:10), and his major and only target are the very elects of
God who have chosen to live by the Spirit and are dead to the works of the
flesh.
It is undeniable that our
Christian walk can never be devoid of trials and adversity, “for we must go
through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Even the Lord
Jesus Christ in the book of John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so
that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.”
Truly, only in Christ do we have
lasting victory over the world’s difficulties and troubles. To trust in the arm
of flesh is to settle for disappointments, depression and despair. But no true
child of God ever knows defeat for his or her trust and confidence is in the
Lord, God Almighty (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
This brings to memory the
uncommon and uplifting story of the three Hebrew brothers – Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah – and how mightily God works for them that solely trust in Him.
There’s no one who ever reads the Bible, even the book of Daniel 3:1-30 and
would doubt the unrivaled power of the Most High God.
King Nebuchadnezzar openly put to
test the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (as we all know them to be
called) and wanted to know if their God was able to deliver. As the incident was
recorded, King Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold and ordered all his
provincial officials to worship it and warned that whoever does not worship the
image will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.
The three Hebrew brothers with
knowledge of God’s clear command in Exodus 20:1-5, 34:14-17, knew better not to
worship a man-made god with eyes but cannot see, with ears but cannot ear and
with mouth but cannot talk. To shorten the story, these brothers defied the
King’s order and were thrown into the furnace. Then the miraculous happened
afterwards.
What, however, strikes the mind is
the Kings query when the brothers defied his order. King Nebuchadnezzar asked,
“Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and
all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made,
very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a
blazing furnace. Then what god will be
able to deliver you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:13-15).
Have you ever been in a situation
where your faith is put to severe test? Your salary hasn’t been paid for months
and your rent is due, your partner’s business isn’t as vibrant as it was, your child’s
school tuition fee is impending and you are running out of stock for food. You ask
a colleague for loan and he or she is requesting a nonnegotiable thirty percent
interest on principal every month. Your siblings and relatives all exhume
excuses with global economic cash crunch.
For want of alternatives, you ask
few neighbors around and one of them puts it straight to your face, “but I
thought you are a Christian and all these are happening to you. Don’t you pray?
Why not ask your God for help?” You look at all sides and see no one to turn to.
And here the devil rejoices at your calamity, asking you this same question, what god will be able to deliver you from
my hand?
Dear brethren, learn from the Hebrew
brothers and be strengthened by the example of their faith. And they responded,
“We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown
into the blazing furnace, the God we
serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from your
Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty,
that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up”
(Daniel 3:16-18).
Time and again has history
revealed that they that know their God are strong and shall not be moved by the
schemes of mean men or by threats and trials from the evil ones. They are not
one to faint or falter in the days of adversity and times of troubles (Proverbs
24:10).
They are as brave lions that are
never shaken. They have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast,
trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they have no fear and in the end,
they always look in triumph on their foes (Psalm 112:6-8). Now, the question is
do you know the God you claim to serve? Is your God able to deliver?
But for those who do know their
God and trust in Him, this is what He says to you, “I will remove from you all
who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and
reproach for you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you… I will
give you praise and honour in every place you have suffered shame… and among
all the people of the earth when I restore your fortunes before very eyes,”
says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:18).
Don’t you believe it? If truly
you do, then, have faith! The Lord is at work and He is able to deliver and save you from all your troubles.
*** Written by Michael Olajubu aka Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***
THE TRUTH MEDIA
...building the body of Christ
