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This month we are talking about how to develop an unshakeable faith and while our faith can grow through good times when life is smooth sailing, what we often find is that our faith grows most when we are going through a storm. Peter, one of the followers of Jesus, had his faith tested as he literally walked on water with Jesus in a storm. Later on in his life Peter wrote:
For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:7
Peter’s faith grew because of the trial he went through when he was in a storm with Jesus. The disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee travelling over one of the deepest parts of the water, when a storm came up that threatened their lives. During the storm, they saw something walking to them on the water and thought it was some kind of ghost so they cried out in fear, but as the figure got closer, they realized it was Jesus. In a bold statement of courageous faith, Peter said, Jesus, if it is you, let me come to you on the water.
Jesus called Peter to get out of the boat and walk with Him on the water, and he did, but when Peter started to feel the wind and the waves, when he experienced the storm around him, his faith grew weak and he started to sink. It was then, in the midst of sinking in a storm, that Peter cried out to Jesus and Jesus lifted him up. You never forget walking on the water with Jesus. You also never forget almost drowning in a storm and having Jesus save you. What helped Peter develop an unshakeable faith, a faith that Jesus said would become the rock of the church, was having it tested during a storm.
If you are going through a storm right now, if your faith is being tested, if you feel like you are sinking and in need of being rescued, then maybe you are right where God wants you to be in order to develop a stronger and unshakable faith.
We are looking at the book of Daniel to learn how to live with an unshakeable faith, and in the book, we find three young men who had their faith tested during a trial - a trial by fire. If you weren’t with us the first week, the book of Daniel begins with Israel being completely destroyed by Babylon. The king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, took some of the best and brightest of Israel’s young men into his service and 3 of those men were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The idea was to indoctrinate them into the culture of Babylon and make them leaders so that the rest of the Israelites would follow. The first step in the indoctrination process was to give them Babylonian names that connected to pagan gods. Their names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
When we left them at the end of the first week, they, along with Daniel, had refused to compromise their faith and eat food from the king’s table. God honored and blessed them by making them healthier and stronger than all the other men in the king’s service, so they moved up the ladder and were appointed leaders in Babylon. So far, things had worked out well for them, but that was all about to change.
King Nebuchadnezzar decided to make a giant statue of himself and have all the people bow down and worship it every time music was played. The statue was made of gold and stood 60 cubits high, which would be about 90 feet or as tall as an 8 story building. This thing was massive and if you didn’t bow down to worship when the music played, you would be thrown into a furnace and burned to death.
As you might imagine, when the music played, everyone bowed down to worship, but some of the Jewish people who still worshipped God refused to bow down and three of them were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Some of the Babylonian leaders who were jealous of these Jewish men being leaders in their nation made sure to tell the king.
May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:9-12
It was quickly noticed that when everyone else bowed down, these 3 men remained standing. They refused to compromise their faith even if it meant that they would die in a fire. They were brought before the king who gave them one more chance. He said,
Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand? Daniel 3:14-15
They were given a choice. Bow down or burn to death. Compromise your faith or die…
I’m not sure we can fully understand this kind of situation. Most, if not all of us, will never be in a situation where compromising our faith and trust in God will mean immediate death. While we may not be able to imagine this situation, there are people today who are living it out. There are people in nations hostile to the Christian who will be put to death if they proclaim faith in Jesus. Several years ago we heard reports of Christians being beheaded in Libya by ISIS because they followed Jesus. This kind of activity still takes place and while we might not face this kind of choice, many people do and we need to pray for them.
While I pray we will never have to experience this kind of test, the truth is that every day our faith is being tested and we can either stand strong or compromise. When that inappropriate joke is told, will we laugh or won’t we? When gossip starts, do we join in or walk away? When we have the opportunity to compromise on our taxes, cheat at school, or lie at work so we can get ahead, will we move forward or stand strong?
While we won’t have to decide if we will bow down to an 8 foot golden statue of a king, there are false gods and idols in this world that are calling us to give them our time, energy and devotion? Do we trust our money more than God? Do we give sports more time than God? Are we devoted to shopping and all the latest things the world has to offer more than we are devoted to God? Do we give more time to social media than we do to praying and reading God’s word? Idols are all around us and they are calling us to worship them. The problem is that they aren’t 8 story golden statues and we aren't going to be thrown into a fiery furnace if we worship them. They are more subtle so all too often we compromise.
We need to understand that every day our faith is being tested and we need to look for the idols that we bow down too. If we can identify where we compromise, then maybe we can learn to stand against them, and if we can stand strong, our faith will grow. A faith that has been tested is a faith that can be trusted and a faith that we can trust at all times becomes unshakeable.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith was being tested. With their eyes fixed on God, this is what they said to the king.
We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:16-18
These 3 men stood strong in their faith because they knew that the God they served was strong. God was able to deliver them. God was able to save them. God was able to help them. An unshakeable faith is one that can say, my God is able.
My God is able to heal. My God is able to restore broken relationships and marriages. My God is able to supply all our financial needs. My God is able to give us hope even when everything looks hopeless. My God is able to make a way and lift our heads and fill our hearts and bring us life when none of that seems possible. My God is able. Can you say it…
An unshakeable faith knows that God is able to do all this and more, but it also knows that just because God is able to do something doesn’t mean that God will. We can know God is able but also know God is sovereign and that sometimes, His ways are not our ways. There are times when God may not do in our lives what we know He is able to do. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew this and had this kind of faith. They said, we know God can rescue us and we believe that God will rescue us, but even if He doesn’t, if for some reason He chooses not to, we will still not bow down and worship you.
This is one of the greatest statements of an unshakeable faith.
God, I believe you can. God, I believe you will.
But even if you don’t, I will still believe.
Can we make this part of our statement of faith and commit it to memory so when we face difficult situations it will be what we say and how we live. No matter what you are facing today, can you say, God I believe you can help me and I believe you will help me, but even if you don’t, I will still believe.
That’s what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said and it infuriated the king. He ordered the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter than normal and he got the strongest men around to grab hold of them and throw them into the furnace.
On this particular day, it wasn’t a good thing to be one of the strongest men because when they got near the furnace, they burned to death, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t burned when they go near the furnace and they didn’t die when they were thrown into the furnace. When the king looked into the furnace, what he saw amazed him because not only were the three of them alive but there was a fourth person in there with them.
Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Daniel 3:25
Who was this fourth person? Many believe the fourth person was Jesus, and that this a Christophany or an appearance of Jesus. Now before you say, wait - Jesus hadn’t been born yet, we need to remember that God has always been one God in three persons. God has always been Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which means that Jesus has always existed. This could easily have been an appearance of Jesus with the three men in the furnace.
But notice where Jesus is. He’s not on the outside having kept them from going into the fire, He is with them in the fire. God didn’t keep them out of the fire, God was with them in the fire. Just like Daniel in the lion’s den, God didn’t keep Daniel out of the lion’s den, which He could have done, God was with him in the lion’s den. God didn’t keep Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the furnace, which He could have done, He was with them in it.
If you are in a difficult situation today and feeling like your life is falling apart and wondering why God didn’t keep you from this problem, maybe you need to open your eyes and see that God is with you. There are times we have to go through the problems and pain before we can see that Jesus is walking with us. If you are feeling tested in some way, if you feel like you are losing your faith and that doubts are sweeping over you, open your eyes and see that Jesus is with you in the fire.
In Romans 8 it says, what shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
It doesn’t say we won’t experience trouble or hardship or danger, it says that when we do, we will find victory in and through Jesus. Isaiah 43 says, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
It doesn’t’ say we won’t experience these things but that when we do, God will be with us. All of us will find our faith tested at times. All of us will go through trials and hardships and because God is with us through them, our faith can grow and a faith that is tested becomes a faith that can be trusted.
I have to tell you that I am a little uncomfortable talking about this story right now because so many have lost so much due to fires. We have prayed that God would keep people and their homes and businesses out of the fire, but the fire came anyway. My hope and prayer is that as people go through these fires that somehow God’s people can be the presence of Jesus with them in and through the devastation. My prayer would be that as we watch anyone go through fires and storms and struggles and pain that we would find ways to help them see and experience Jesus.
An unshakeable faith doesn’t keep us from hardships and suffering, in fact, sometimes it is those times of testing that helps our faith grow stronger. If you are suffering grief or any kind of hardships, if you are in a storm and feel like you are sinking, if you feel like your faith is being tested by fire, look up and see that Jesus is with you. He will meet us and walk with us in the fire.
Next Steps
Unshakeable Faith - Week 3
Think of a time when you felt like your faith was being tested. Did your faith grow during that season?
What “fires” are you facing today? (temptations, trials, suffering, hardships) How can God use these to develop an unshakeable faith?
A faith that is tested is a faith that can be trusted.
How have you experienced this?
How was Peter’s faith tested when he walked on water?
See Matthew 14:22-33
How was the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tested? See Daniel 3
Both Peter and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that God was ABLE to do all things.
● Make a list of all the things you know God is able to do
● Make a list of all the things God has done in your life
● Make a list of what you need God to do in your life
While God is able to do all things, God may not do all the things we want Him to do in our life. Read Psalm 115:3, Proverbs 19:21, Isaiah 55:9, Job 38-41
What do these scriptures tell us about the sovereignty of God?
How can these scriptures help us hold on to our faith during difficult and uncertain times?
Who does Romans 8:35-39 tell us we can turn to in the midst of suffering and pain?
How can the Lord’s prayer help us in times of need?
Use the Lord’s prayer to help develop an unshakeable faith.
