I opened my computer this morning and found an interesting question as the subject of an email from a spiritual organization. The question: “Would you bow to an idol or face death?”
My immediate reaction was “what kind of a question is that?” I deleted the email. But the question kept bugging me and I decided to visit my deleted mail and find out just what the sender wanted of me. I should have known. It was an advertisement for a series of children’s books it wanted me to buy, the first one was about the “Fiery Furnace.” [Daniel 3]
Still, that question remained in the forefront throughout my morning. I wondered if it is a question any of us could answer with certainty when faced with a situation that would demand an answer to it.
I would say right now, “I will not bow!” But then, I am sitting on my couch in my bonus room, surrounded by peace and quiet with no immediate threats to my life. Would I have the courage of those Three Hebrew Children when standing in front of a fiery furnace or other means of violent martyrdom.
As I consider my own bravery or cowardice, I remember the promise of Jesus. In Matthew 10, Jesus sends His disciples out into the surrounding countryside with His message of hope. His instructions to His own later morph into predictions of persecution. Then in verses 19-20 He gives them a promise.
“But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.” [HCSB]
After His promise that His followers will not be alone in that hour of trial, He also promises that we are worth more than many sparrows to our Father and that He will both watch over us and reward us for our loyalty to Christ Jesus.
I can say with confidence that in my own strength I might hesitate, but I will not face tribulation in my own strength but in the power and with the presence of God’s Almighty Spirit within me. Praise His Holy Name!
