A Silent Presence

In church today I actually heard something which I rarely hear from the front. The pastor was speaking from Daniel 3, which is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and the furnace. The point which the pastor made was that it is normal for Christians to suffer and not hear from God, nor even see Him working, for long stretches of time. I feel like we rarely address this part of our faith, holding to the idea that if we trust in God and do all of the right things everything will turn out peachy. But that is not true. Following God can be incredibly tough and the road is often littered with pain.

The story of these three shows this fact quite clearly. I many times forget their history, concentrating on the immediate story in chapter 3. They started off in the royal palace in Judah, having an education and most likely plenty of privileges. They watched as the Babylonian Empire advanced towards their kingdom. They more than likely called out to God, asking for His protection and salvation from this threat. Yet, Judah still fell. They then saw themselves carted off as slaves to Babylon, where they were subjected to cultural brainwashing and completely stripped of their very identity, even given new Babylonian names. They more than likely called out to God throughout this whole ordeal, asking for Him to intervene and save them. Yet, the response they received was silence. Then we come upon chapter 3. The statue had been erected and they were to bow down in worship or face death. Yet these 3 men stood their ground, refusing to give worship to anyone but the most High God. When they faced the furnace, their reply to Nebuchadnezzar was that they worship no one but God and that He can save them from the flames. Even if He didn't, they would still follow Him alone.

I've never approached their story in this manner before. Their faith in God is astounding. They had every reason to say that God no longer cared for them, that He had abandoned them and that they were on their own. He had remained silent in those other times when they cried out for Him. Yet, here they were, facing death and yet remaining steadfast in their faith. They knew God can move and save. They didn't know if He would or not, but they still believed in Him.

I hear this and then I look at myself. I get so upset when I don't feel like I'm hearing anything from God for a few weeks or even months. I complain that He's abandoned me, that He doesn't truly care, that I'm on my own. Yet that isn't true by any means. He's still there, even in the silence. I need to learn how to be at peace in this silence, grounding my faith on the truth and love which I have already experienced. He is faithful, even when I can't seem to see it.

So yeah... this was something I found really cool from the sermon this morning and I wanted to share. Hope you found it as encouraging as I did.

Peace, my friends.