Finding the Light in FearSample

DAY 2

FAITH

Welcome back! We began studying this week’s topic on fear yesterday. As we discussed the background for this week’s Scripture, I encouraged you to consider your response to fear.

So far, we have learned that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were King Nebuchadnezzar’s officials. During this time, the king made a large golden image for all the people under his rule to worship. However, since Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were God’s followers, Scripture says they did not pay attention to the king or his image (Daniel 3:12). With King Nebuchadnezzar finding out this information, he sent for them and demanded they worship his image.

At this point, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face their fear of being thrown into a fire alive- ultimately being burned to death. They had a choice to either follow the king’s demands or deny him and be thrown into the fire.

Today, we are studying the first section of our Scripture. Let us read Daniel 3:16-17:

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, “King 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 deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.”

There is an unfathomable amount of faith it takes to face the fear of being thrown into a fire alive. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego showed us this faith in their response.

It would be easy to run out of fear, yet they confronted it with faith that God is ABLE! They had faith that God could save them from King Nebuchadnezzar’s hands.

The Hebrew word used here for deliver isšêzib (pronounced shez-ab’) means to free. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced their fear of being thrown into the fire alive with faith that God could free them from the evil King Nebuchadnezzar was declaring.

As we conclude today, I’d want you to reconsider our question from yesterday. What is your response to fear? Today we learned about the incredible faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their response to fear was a display of unyielding faith. For them, God would be ABLE to FREE them from the evil they faced.

Fear is a tactic the enemy uses to hold us captive, and he will keep us captive for as long as we let him.

But God is ABLE. My prayer for you this week is to acknowledge the power God has over the evil tactics our enemy uses.

I’ll see you again tomorrow as we study the “what if” scenario.

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