Kill the Noise Sample

A God of Miracles

The three friends stood before the king as he was going off on them. “How dare you not worship the idol I put up? Who do you think you are? If you don’t do what I say, I’m throwing you guys into the fire.” The king was asking them to choose life or death. Obey the king and keep your life. Obey your God and you’re dead men.

But these boys took Door Number 3. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if He doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up’” (Daniel 3:16–18). They said, “Kick back, King, and slow your roll. You have no say over our life or death. That’s up to God. If we live, it’s because God wants us to live. If we die, that’s cool, too. We trust God either way.”

The king heated up the fire way more than normal, so he could burn them good. He threw them into the fire. Suddenly, the three friends became four. King Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t believe what he saw. The Lord stood with them there in the fire, protecting them from the flames. The three friends walked out a few minutes later, not even smelling like smoke. God’s in the business of doing miracles, and He always wins.

There are three ways to look at life. The first sees an unknown future and is scared to death. It is not just scared to death, but scared of death. Hebrews 2:15 says that people live their lives “as slaves to the fear of dying.” There’s no reason for that. I’m not saying we walk around with a death wish. But if we have Jesus as our Savior and Lord, there is no reason for us to be afraid of dying. He’s not going to let anything happen to us unless it’s time, anyway.

The second way ignores the future. These people just “eat, drink, and enjoy life” (Ecclesiastes 8:15), not thinking about the bigger issues in life. They pretend bad stuff won’t happen to them; it will only happen to other people – bad people. Then one day it happens to them, and they’ve got nothing that they can turn to for help. That day will come, trust me.

The third way is to live a life trusting in the God of the universe, who is bigger than what is going on around you. This is the supernatural God who sticks His hand into the natural world to help those who follow Him. God has done the miraculous in my life more times than I can count. From me getting clean to how The Whosoevers Movement started to bringing me my wife, Crystal, to giving me my triplet girls and my son – every one of those is a miracle story where the hand of God is clearly evident.

Fully Committed means taking risks. It means saying “Yes” when God asks you to do something, even though you’re afraid, or you feel inadequate, or you’re sure that you’re going to blow it. It’s recognizing that our supernatural God will do supernatural works through you when you trust Him to do them. I’m not saying that you’re going to go around calling down fire from heaven, although that’s certainly something that God could do. You just have to make sure that you don’t let your own perceived limitations or shortcomings stand in the way of the amazing things that God is ready to do in you and through you.