God Is Able To Deliver At All Times

Isaiah 26:3 states That God will keep His children in perfect peace when we fix our minds to trust only in Him.  Real peace of mind is a gift from God to those who keep their trust in Him alone.  This verse is lived out in Daniel 3 when we meet three of Daniel's friends, confronted with a great obstacle to their faith.  These young men are commanded to worship an idol (compromise their faith), follow the crowd, and go in the opposite direction of their moral beliefs.  It would have been very easy for these men to go along with the crowd, or even bow down, not to worship but rather to "tie their sandals", and then go on with their life as if nothing happened.  The truth of the matter is, it takes great strength and courage for believers to live out God's Word in a corrupt and sinful culture.   

The three Hebrew children have been commanded to worship an idol, or face death.  To say the least, this would have been a very stressful command...well, stressful to those who believed that Jehovah was the only God worthy of praise, honor, and worship.  Deep inside each man, a struggle begins between wrong and right, compromise or courage, indifference or integrity.  Well, I believe it did not take long, before these three men chose to side with their faith in Jehovah, God.  They chose to stand openly when everyone else bowed down (3:1-7).  They spoke boldly their convictions when everyone else chose to compromise (3:8-18).  And they walked boldly in faith where everyone else feared (3:19-27).  The end result was that God honored these men for their faith with His personal presence of protection.  We too have been given a hostile environment to live out our faith.  We must live out a faith that believes that God will always honor those who are faithful to Him, and that He is able to deliver us from any impossible circumstance the enemy throws our way.  It is when we live out these truths that we as Christians are able to live a less stressed life.  Until next time, keep walking close to Christ.