Daniel 3:13-18. Wait, what?

I just sent this to a couple of friends via email, and I thought I'd share it here. No, it's not Luke, but it's fun to jump back into the Old Testament on occasion. Plus, this is one of my favorite passages ever.

Daniel 3:13-18

13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes 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 rescue you from my hand?"

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
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I realize this is the kind of Old Testament story that we learn about as kids in Sunday School and then seldom preach about as "grown-ups." But my favorite thing -- and the thing I love to talk about -- is verses 17-18. These kids (and they probably weren't much older than teenagers, really) were about to be thrown into a burning furnace to meet an awful, painful death, just because they refused to bow down to something that wasn't God. And they say, "Our God is able to save us from it. BUT... even if he doesn't not, we won't serve your idol."

That BUT is one of the biggest BUTs in the Bible (ha). God is able to do a lot of things. But he isn't always going to. He's not someone we can magically summon to heal an uncle's cancer or help us get a better job or suddenly make my life nice and comfortable in every way possible. And the early Christians who were about to be eaten by wild animals (an awful way to die if there ever was one) in the Flavian Amphitheatre probably were thinking, Man, I truly believe my God can save me. So why doesn't he?

And we don't know. Once in awhile, he'll do something miraculous. But whether he does or not, he's still God, and we are asked to serve him and him only. Of course, the cool thing is that in Daniel, he DOES save them. But they sure didn't know for certain he was going to. If you think about it, those kids had to be scared to death. They probably weren't nearly as confident as we make them out to be!

So verse 18 is the important part. We don't know what God is going to do -- and quite frankly, I don't think he's interested in making me comfortable or me always getting my way -- but he is God, and we are called to serve and worship him and him alone.