A Disappointing Situation

      By Fern Horst

"Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." (Daniel 3:28)

There are many times and situations in life that appear as though Satan is in full control. At some point, though, it will become evident that God used his evil tactics and turned them around for His glory and for His purposes.

The stories of Daniel, and of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are examples of this very principle. All four men were taken captive by the Babylonians, along with all the other brightest and strongest of the Jews, leaving Jerusalem a shadow of what it had been before. It looked this time as though the enemies of God's people had finally gotten the best of them.

When Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego arrived in Babylon, they were made eunuchs to serve in the king's palace. They were not only stripped of their homes and of their freedom, they were stripped of their freedom to marry and have families, and made servants of the king of an enemy nation. Their deliberate response to this very disappointing turn of events? They chose to keep on serving and worshipping God, and not be defiled by the practices of the people around them, no matter what it may cost them.

Their faith was indeed tested.

When it was told to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship a golden image, the king furiously threw them into a fiery furnace. He was astonished, however, when he saw four men walking in the fire, and the fourth man looked like the Son of God! He called them out, and immediately decreed that anyone who spoke anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be cut in pieces, "because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort".

Years later Darius the Median became king and made Daniel second to him in his kingdom. Those who were jealous of Daniel's position urged King Darius to make a decree that "whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions". When this decree did not deter Daniel from his practice of praying to God three times a day, the king was forced to throw him into a den of lions. But God shut those lions' mouths, and in the morning, when the king hurried to the den, Daniel was still alive.

Humbled, Darius declared, "I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." (Daniel 6:26-7)

Perhaps you feel as though you have been carried into a captivity of some sort, forced against your will to face a life you hadn't chosen, as these young men were. You may feel as though your singleness wasn't your choice, or that God has abandoned you, or that Satan has gotten the upper hand in your life. But no matter what evil has been done against you, or what evil you have been involved with yourself, God is ready to turn your situation around for His glory and your good.

Not only did God use these four men to bring knowledge of His greatness to another nation, but He also prospered them as individuals. They became top leaders in this foreign nation - a position of personal affluence, but also a position of influence for His sake. All of this was a result of the choice Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made when they found themselves in a very disappointing situation, and the same one we can make today: to keep on serving the Lord no matter what "captivity" we have been carried into against our will.

© 2001 Fern Horst

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