Committed or Quit It
Daniel 3rd Chapter
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Does God keep his promises? Of course He does. Will God keep his covenant? You better believe He will. Throughout the word of God we have been promised life and more abundant life. We’ve been promised deliverance and healing. However, let’s touch on beliefs for a minute.
It is our belief in God to keep his “word” that keeps us committed to Him. But what happens when we stop believing? What happens when it looks like we will never get the mate our soul has longed for? What happens when we are going through financial hell and in our own perspective can’t see the “wealthy place?” What happens when it looks as though we are in the middle of a storm by ourselves and we can’t see Jesus or hear him at the time. Will we be committed or will we “quit it?”
From our text we see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego smack-dab in the midst of their trial. Now the text does not tell us that angels of the Lord were encamped about them, nor does it say the power of the Holy Ghost was upon them. Instead, we are told a story about men who were placed before the king and told that if they did not worship the king’s god, within the hour they would be placed in the fiery furnace. Their reply to the king comes from the 17th verse, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.” Without a doubt, they had the commitment! But I want us to focus on their statement in the 18th verse.
The 18th starts out, “But if not…” Oh, Lord!!! Here is where many may try to implement an “out clause.” In other words, we would probably say, “O.K., God… I’ll do…. as long as it works out the way I want it to, BUT IF NOT I’ll probably have to quit.” I’m sure that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have rather not faced the fiery furnace but because they did their God showed up. More importantly, their attitude was to be “Committed” and not to “Quit it.” They were determined to worship God and God only whether He saved them or not.
So the question we should ask ourselves is, “Would I be committed if I felt He wasn’t going to show up?” Could I tell how good He is if my “right now” is not that good? The Lord God loves us unconditionally and is totally committed to us. ( Hebrews 13:5 … for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.) He watches over us when we sleep and slumber. He prepares a way for us before we even know we have a need to get on that path. He’s blessed us with every spiritual blessing before He created the very earth we walk on (Ephesians 1:3).
He is undoubtedly committed to us even when it feels wrong or looks wrong. When you can’t see the sun and darkness is all around know that He is committed to you. Regardless of the scenario, God has already worked out the problem, you just have to stay committed through the problem to get to the promise. Therefore, stay committed to God . He wouldn’t dare quit on you so don’t you quit on Him!
