Even If...
“Who is like You? – Faithful to all generations. Marvelous One, Your glory it fills the heavens. All You are is what I need, Lord – You alone I treasure. All the earth both young and old will praise Your name forever.” – Unhindered, More Than Words
Hello Dear Friend,
“This god that you serve, surely he wouldn’t want you to die. Would he? He doesn’t really care if you worship my gods – does he?” The king mocked and his subjects laughed along with him.
Laughter echoed in the chamber as the three young men remained quiet and let his question sink in.
The king held up his hand, a gesture, commanding silence. He sat up in his chair and leaned closer towards the young men, “Tell me, are you really prepared to die?”
Wide-eyed and trying to hide the terror they felt inside the young men focused on their breathing as the weight of his words came crashing down upon their thoughts.
“Geez, are we really supposed to be snuffed out of this world just like a candle against the wind? That seems a bit extreme for this offense. It’s not like we’re hurting anyone.” Mesh thought.
“Die – seriously?! Is my faith in a god I’ve never seen really worth that?” Neko questioned himself.
Then without any hesitation, a voice broke the silence. Shad answered for the three of them, “If we must. But hear this and let it be known throughout the kingdom. Our God is faithful and He can deliver us out of this whole thing but even if He doesn’t, even if He chooses not too – you will know that our God is still worthy of all the praise and honor and glory. We will never stop worshipping Him and we will never worship your gods.”
Outraged by the response the king bellowed, “SEND THEM TO BURN!”
“Well boys,” Shad looked over at his companions as the three of them began to get dragged away, “Here we go,” He winked at them as he said, “get ready to be thrown into the fire!”
Spiritual Strength
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:2-4
Even if…I’ve always loved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response to king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3:17. Throughout the years those two little words forming that one simple phrase have remained some of my favorite words in the Bible.
Granted, I’ve never had to face any kind of persecution for my faith but that doesn’t mean that my faith hasn’t been tested. Throughout the years, I’ve had plenty of “even if” moments. I’ve had to remind myself, “Even if He doesn’t save me from this, it doesn’t mean He’s any less deserving of my praise.”
At the end of every day, whether it went the way I had hoped or was one of the crappiest days of my life, He is still my God. His faithfulness endures. Even if He never does another thing for me, even if this is it and what I have right now is all He has to offer me, He’s still worthy of my worship. He’s already done more than enough. He’s already done more than I could have asked or imagined.
It was autumn, a few years ago, when I had a health scare that exercised my spiritual strength as I faced the possibility that I might have a blood disease or worse, cancer. I know all too well that trying not to focus on the worst case is easier said than done. Especially when cancer and disease are two words you never want to hear from someone who is talking about your health. But there it was – an unwelcomed possibility.
As hard as I tried to remain spiritually strong, my faith struggled during those couple of months. As I found myself in a cruel waiting game, I tried to keep my spirits up. I would give myself the spiritual pep talk and try to remain strong in my faith thinking, “Even if it is a blood disease, even if you do have cancer, it will be okay. It’s not the end. God still loves you, He still fights for you and He will see you through this.”
My mind still wanders back to that Thanksgiving week from time to time. Like looking over at a snapshot in a scrapbook – The weight of anxiety is lifted and our hearts are all a little lighter as my mom is hugging me in front of the kitchen sink and saying, “I’m really glad that you don’t have a blood disease.”
As it turns out, my doctor was just being overly precautious when she referred me to a Hematologist and sent me on a roller coaster of heightened anxiety and emotions. Just before Thanksgiving, I met with the Hematologist who quickly put my mind at ease as he assured me that there was nothing wrong with my blood and that he believed my blood counts just run lower that what’s considered to be average.
Sweet Faith, Be Faithful To Me
For over the past decade, Thanksgiving weekend serves as a reminder and an anniversary date for when one of my best days took place. It was 13 years ago almost to the day. It was the day I had been waiting for, the day that I would finally be delivered from the demon that had attached itself to me for 15+ years. I remember the evening vividly, when my roommate asked me point blank if I wanted to be set free from the spirit of fear.
Shamefully, I’ll admit, that I did have a quick moment of hesitation before shaking it off and finally climbing over that last hump. Yeah, I know just how the man felt when he responded to Jesus saying, “I do believe,” and in the same breath pleaded, “Help me with my unbelief.”
Then it happened! In the middle of my living room I found myself on my knees in prayer believing for my freedom. Everything changed for me that night. I was finally free! I was no longer bound to those chains that held me captive for so much of my life, I was free. The thing that had once had so much control over my life no longer held any power.
“Take heart daughter, your faith has made you well.” –Matthew 9:22
Just this past week I heard a sermon on faith! In this sermon, there was one particular statement that stood out to me, “I didn’t lose my faith, I just misplaced it.”
That got me thinking about myself. How many times in my Christian walk do I misplace my faith? I’ll tell you it’s far too many times to count. Over the years I had prayed and been prayed over for my deliverance and healing from the spirit of fear, yet I still struggled. I wasn’t free, if anything, the bindings only grew tighter. I wonder how many detours I had to take over the years due to my misplaced faith.
Thankful Heart
It’s hard to believe that it’s that time again; the holiday season is upon us once more. How quickly this year has seemed to have passed while still having a way of making me feel like it’s one of the longest ones yet.
Through the years, I’ve really come to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Sure, in more recent years, I’ve been thrown more curveballs than I could have imagined and I’ve been faced with some pretty big challenges. Many of which have, ironically enough, intertwined with the very holiday that is meant to remind us to take time to be thankful and put our focus towards gratitude and all the blessings we have in life.
I’ve found it’s the uncomfortable seasons of my life that are the very reason I love Thanksgiving. Well that and that it kicks off the holiday season – my favorite time of the year. It’s that special time of the year that’s set aside to spend with family and friends and to focus on the many blessings both big and small that God has brought into my life. Yeah, some of them came in the form of growing pains, others were found only after I was brought out of a storm and then there were those blessings that came in disguise. But there are countless blessings that have come in the little moments found in the day to day when I've taken the time to recognize the treasured beauty.
Throughout the many "even if" moments in my life my God remains faithful. His love endures and although He doesn't have to, He proves His unwavering love to me time and time again.
As we approach this Thanksgiving I can hear Bing Cosby singing Irving Berlin’s, “I’ve got plenty to be thankful for” in my head…
“How could anybody ask for more? My needs are small, I buy them all at the five and ten cent store. Oh, I’ve got plenty to be thankful for.” – Holiday Inn
To you and yours, may you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
With love,
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