But If Not


Last night, I had the privilege of attending and participating in a worship service where the Spirit of God was allowed to have His way.  The preacher came from Daniel 3:16-18:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
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 thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
            His sermon title was from verse 18, “But If Not.”  The preacher reminded us that God is able to heal. He is able to deliver. He is able to bless us and work miracles. But if not…  Would we still praise Him? Would we still worship Him? Would we still serve Him? Like most present, I answered his questions with a hearty “YES!” After all, I have been there and done that and even wrote about it. Little did I know that God would give me an opportunity to prove myself so soon.
Without going into detail, I received a phone call from my doctor that should have made me nervous. It should have even scared me just a little bit.  It should have, but it didn’t.  God’s peace overwhelmed me even as the doctor was speaking. After hanging up the phone, I didn’t know what I felt, but it wasn’t fear. It was indescribable and overwhelming at the same time. It was an invitation to praise God, and praise Him I did.
As the man of God said on last night and Holy Spirit confirmed today, God is able to heal and work miracles. But if not, He is still worthy of my praise. God can set me free from all that troubles me. But if not, He is still worthy of my worship. God is able to do great and might things on my behalf. But if not, He is still worthy of my heart.
What God does or doesn't do does not determine His worthiness. Truth be told, my worthiness is also not determined by what I do or fail to do. God is god regardless of His works on my behalf, and I am His chosen and adored daughter - not because of what I do, but because of my acceptance of what Jesus did. As I took a moment and praised the true and living God, I was reminded that I’m an imperfect servant who is perfectly loved by a perfect God. That is what I shall focus on as I praise Abba Father and say, “I trust you.”
Pray with me: Precious Father, I come to you in that Name that is above every name to give you praise; to give you glory; to just worship and adore you. You are God and besides You, there is no other. There is no one to whom You can be compared – no one even comes close. I love you, God, just for being You. I thank you for all your gifts and blessings, but I thank you most for being God – my creator, savior, sustainer, protector, my Lord. You have allowed some things in my life that I would never have chosen for myself. But I know you’ve also blocked many things that I would have chosen that would be far worse than what I’m dealing with today. For that I also thank you. I know that you are with me and that you will never leave nor forsake me. Anything you bring me to, you have the power to bring me through. But if not, I will yet praise you. All the glory and honor belong to you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name – Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Believe in Miracles, Because I Am One

For some time now it has been on my heart to share my testimony here but for reasons I dare not try to explain, I waited. Now I’m certain now it’s time. I don’t know who it’s for but I trust you will find these words at just the proper time and it will encourage your soul and strengthen your faith in The Father – no matter how your circumstances work out. I am the mother of two beautiful teenage girls, 19 and 14. I am also the mother of 8 others, sex unknown, who were never held in my arms but went straight to the bosom of Christ. When I had my first miscarriage, I allowed the enemy to make me think the baby’s death was punishment from God because he’d been conceived in sin. (You will notice that I refer to all of my rainbow babies – babies of miscarriage or still birth – as boys.) That’s another story all together but I no longer believe that lie.  Children are a gift from God and conceived in or out of His perfect plan, He loves them and would not allow their demise just b...
Read more

Letting Go

Today as I continue my journey, my walk with God, I had to take another hard look at my life and get real with myself. I also had to take a real hard look at those in my life who share this journey.  Actually, let me back up a bit. In trying to be more committed to the study of God’s Word, I’m doing a Beth Moore Bible study entitled, “ Jesus The One And Only” with my dear friend Sue. In the portion of lesson we went over today, I was challenged to consider who pours into my cup. Who am I looking to for fulfillment in life? Am I trying to be satisfied by someone other than Christ? Now we all have people who play a part in making us whole and I’m not knocking that, BUT what role do they play? am I / are you giving them a position that can only be filled by Christ? The consideration of that question is why I backed up after beginning in the sharing of this segment of my journey. I didn’t fully comprehend how much I allow others to influence what I did and said until I began ...
Read more

Confession of Belief

I don’t know how, and I don’t know when. But this I do know. God made me a promise, and it WILL happen. The how and the when are of no concern to me, because I have full confidence in the WHO. Numbers 23 (NKJV) says plainly, “ God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? ” Praise God! He is a promise keeper. There is no shadow of turning with Him. (James 1:17) Or real-speak, He doesn’t change! God has made me a promise and He will perform it. Like Abram, I tried to help God. I tried to go out and work and bring to pass what He clearly told me He Himself would do. I have since repented and now walk by faith. Now like, Abraham , I believe God. I recognize and acknowledge what is impossible with man is just right for God. He WILL do all He has promised. I also acknowledge that He will not do it because of my goodness or my righteousness or even because I possess great fa...
Read more