April 6, 2022

Alyssa Nantt

Deliverance ~ Daniel 3:14-20, 24-28, NRSV

King Nebuchadnezzar asks the young Jewish men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego an important question: “Who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands”?  The young men have no doubt that God is able to deliver them out of the king’s hands.  They tell the king that no matter what happens to them, they will not serve the gods of the king and will not worship the golden statue that he has set up.  The young men are thrown into the blazing fire of a furnace.  They are unhurt by the fire and as they leave the furnace, the king acknowledges that the young men serve the Most High God.  The Most High God delivered the young men out of King Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.

As leaders, we sometimes ask God for deliverance out of difficult situations.  Even though Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s lives were spared that day, they were not delivered from their bondage to the king.  They still had to deal with the day-to-day difficulties of being a captive.  We want a quick and easy fix to our difficult situations.  But God wants us to put our trust into the hands of the Most High God.  God is able to deliver us from difficult situations, but that may not mean we get the deliverance that we want.  We still have to deal with the day-to-day difficulties of living with our fellow human beings in this world.  Put your trust in the Most High God for deliverance and be at peace.