But If Not

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."" - Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)

Do we have a "But if not" in our spiritual vocabulary? Is our faith fireproof? If wars should arise and son, daughter, husband, sweetheart be taken from our side, have we a "But if not" to carry us through that fiery furnace? If business should fail or financial reverses be experienced? If ill health grips us? When old age enfeebles us? When bereavement strikes? When desire for a life partner is not granted? When cherished plans are thwarted? If Christian work does not meet with the success we envisaged? When we are not designated to the mission station we expected or live with the fellow worker we would choose? Let us emulate the dauntless faith of the noble three who maintained their confidence in God in the face of seemingly unrewarded faith. "But if not, we will still go on trusting God," said the three men. They did not fall into self-pity or unbelief.

We may not always understand God's dealings with us at the time, and He nowhere undertakes to explain Himself. "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter" is His promise. In the meantime we learn many a lesson in the furnace of testing...

Job lost all - home, herd, family, health, even his wife's sympathy - yet in the midst of the holocaust his faith triumphed gloriously. "He shall bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold him." But if not, "though he slay me, yet will I trust him."

Imagine the poignancy of Isaac's question to Abraham, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham had his answer ready. "God will provide a lamb," but if not, I will still trust, accounting that God is "able to raise him up even from the dead" (Hebrews 11:19). Such a thing as a resurrection had never been dreamed of, but Abraham's faith rose to the occasion and he received him back from the dead in a figure.

John the Baptist was languishing in prison. He was disappointed that he had received no message from Jesus, that He had taken no steps to liberate or even visit him. He sent his disciples with the question, "Master, am I mistaken? Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another? But if not, my faith is not stumbled. I will keep on looking for another."

The Lord Jesus was agonising in prayer in Gethsemane, in such distress that bloody sweat forced its way through His pores. "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But if not, thy will be done."

- J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Maturity