This craziness of the world has no hold on me.
I was reading in Daniel 3, about how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship a golden idol that the powerful King Nebuchadnezzar had built, and required them to worship, or else they would be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responded by saying:
“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. BUT if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Wow. And I had SUCH an impression, that this is like a parallel of what fear (the spirit of fear) tells us to do – to bow down in fear, in panic, in doubt, in absolute terror of what’s going on in the world, then we need to shout out, NO WAY! No, I’m standing my ground, I’m not backing down. I’m not about to bow down in fear, I’m not about to give my ground up to you, not now, not in the future. And even IF I lose my job. And even IF I lose my health, fear, you will not take me over. No matter what feelings you throw at me.
And just to tell the rest of the story, God did show up for them. The King threw them into the fire, then exclaimed, “Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? … lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” So God sure did show up for them. But what really hit me with this story was the men’s full-on allegiance to God, how they chose to trust God above the fear of man and of death. And it was a real encouragement to me to face this fear that is trying to surround us all, and look it in the eye and say no. I’m a child of God, and no matter what happens, He will take care of me. Nothing can take away the calm assurance that no matter what happens, I’m God’s child. It’s who I am.
So that has given me a lot of peace and reminders that I needed! So that I can go about my day in as much a normal way as possible. And of course, enjoy my little buddy, my boy, William… And big news!! He started walking!!! Whaaaa?!! haha. To be honest, I was praying he would start walking before I headed back to work next week, and he has! Check it out if you want:
And, just to make you smile… here he is dancing 😉
Haha… God is faithful, so faithful to give us peace, love, joy, and calm in the midst of a storm. Blessings to you all!