Our Deliverer

[God] shall deliver you.

Job 5:19

When Daniel’s three friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego—stood before the opening to a blazing furnace in Babylon, they had one of the most remarkable perspectives found in the pages of world history: “It doesn’t matter if we are thrown into the furnace or not. If God chooses to deliver us, fine. If not, fine. Either way our trust is in Him” (Daniel 3:16-18).

How often do we face life’s threatening moments with that kind of faithful resolve? It may not be life-or-death persecution for our faith, but we may face a life-or-death situation of another kind: illness, divorce, unemployment, estrangement, or an unspeakable tragedy. Because not everyone is delivered as Daniel’s three friends were, how do we interpret the scriptural promises of protection in light of actual outcomes? Here’s how: we make up our minds about God at the door of the furnace, not once we’re inside. As a result, we are prepared for any outcome. If we are delivered on earth, fine; if we are delivered to heaven, that’s also fine. We let God be in charge of seeing us through our fiery furnaces.

God is our deliverer (Psalm 18:2), regardless of how, when, and where the deliverance occurs.

It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man.

JOHN WITHERSPOON