Unadulterated and pure faith in God doesn’t always say, “God will deliver us,” but it sometimes says, “God will deliver us, but if He doesn’t, we will continue to worship and love Him!”
This is not a confession of doubt in God but an expression of unshakable and unstoppable faith in God, a strong and intimate relationship with God.
It is the nature of God to always do “good” to those who love Him (Romans 8:28, John 14:15); but God’s goodness is manifested sometimes in ways our three-pound brain may not be able to understand.
When we have the kind of intimate, personal and close relationship with God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had (Daniel 3), we realize that God is good to us whether we continue to live in this life or crossover to the next one. We know that no one and nothing can give or take away our life. So, when we are faced with danger, we say in confidence, just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “God will deliver us; but if He doesn’t, we won’t worship any other god or bow down to any other image.”
Stephan was stoned to death while he was praying for those who were stoning him (Acts 7). Did God fail to save Stephan? Or, was Stephan’s faith in God too small to save him from death? Or, was Stephan’s devotion to God not good enough to encourage God to save Stephan?
No! No! No!
Stephan was willing to give his body over for the glory of God (Daniel 3:28) and for those who were still in the dark. And God acted in His goodness and took the life of His beloved one and in the process opened the eyes of one of Stephan’s killers named Saul who later was named Paul (Acts 7:58).
Let’s not dare to box God or His nature! God is too big for us to totally know and understand Him and His ways. Yes, God delights in delivering us from harm; but if He doesn’t, we have to know that He has a better and higher plan for us in mind, such as to lavishly show His greatness to us and to those who don’t know Him and in the process to lift us up to the place we don’t even know exist.
God said, “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)
So, let’s cultivate that intimate relationship with God and His Word so that we decide to continue to worship and love Him in all circumstances, knowing that He is always GOOD to us. ///
P. S. Please note that God doesn’t give anyone over to sin in the name of “a better plan.” There is no better plan in sinning against God and ourselves. One is given over to sin when he/she is “dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” by his/her own stubbornness and refusal to know and worship God (James 1:13-15, Romans 1:21-32)