Justin Tucker, LHBC Worship Pastor
Daniel 3:24-25
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
There’ll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There’ll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You’ve been to me
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
Life is full of challenges that we never saw coming, struggles that we never anticipated, and hard times that we may not always be ready for. God knows that we can’t fully handle everything that we will face in life on our own. He created us to be in relationship with Him and His plan has never been for us to walk through this life alone. From the very beginning, He knew we would need to be rescued. Rescued from our choices. Rescued from the sin that holds our hearts captive. Rescued from the darkness that separates us from the holiness of God. That’s why Jesus had to come. To be our Savior. To break the chains of sin and to remove the things that stand between God and us.
All throughout the Bible, God shows up when the people of God boldly live out their faith. In Daniel, three ordinary men from the tribe of Judah were sentenced to death in a furnace because they refused to bow to a false god. They chose to worship the one, true God and He showed up in a big way. God stood in the fire with them, protected them, and delivered them. Even when they were faced with an impossible situation, they understood that they served a God that is bigger than the impossible.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were chained to the floor of a Roman prison. When they sang out in praise to God, the earth shook, their chains fell to the floor. Their lives, and the lives of those around them were changed forever. None of them knew that a miracle was going to happen. They just knew that God is worthy to be praised, so they praised Him. So, God did something miraculous, He responded to their worship, He showed up, and broke away their chains.
Be encouraged today that nothing that happens to us in life is a surprise to God. He knows the battles you face. And because He loves you, He’s prepared to fight for you. So, you can count it all joy, in every battle, because the Bible promises that God will meet you right in the middle of those battles, standing next to you and fighting for you..
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord, help me to trust in your sovereignty. Help me to lean into your promises. Help me to realize that when all seems lost, that you are in control and that you have plans to benefit me. Help me to remember that the battles of this life are yours to fight and not my own. Help me to change my perspective in the tough times from how bad my problems are to how good YOU are. I love you, in Jesus’ name, amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.