ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 6 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Daniel 3:19-30

Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in

him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather

than serve and worship any god except their own God.” Daniel 3:28

Have you ever felt like you were in a dire situation? I am not sure it gets more

dire than being thrown in a furnace so hot that even those doing the throwing

die from the heat. I know when I have been in dire situations the tendency is

to feel sorry for myself or to try and figure out how I ended up in this situation.

Rarely do I trust that all will be well given the situation I find myself in at the

time. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trust that no matter what happens,

all will be well for them.

The three of them are not letting the situation define who they are or their

outlook on life. They trust that they have been faithful to God and are not wor-

ried about the outcome of being in the furnace. In this instance God sends a

protector to be with them so that the flames do them no harm.

I am not suggesting that when we personally face a dire situation that God will

provide a solution in the way he did for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I

am suggesting that we should learn from them that hope is connected to our

ability to trust that the future will work out. If we do not have trust in God, it is

hard to have hope that something transformative can happen. Trust is needed.

Many of us face dire situations at some point in life. The question is, “Will we

be able to trust that God will be with us during our trial? Can we maintain

hope for transformation even when the furnace is hot?” When we have this

kind of hope it means that we are not stuck defining our lives by the world’s

standards. Our hope is built on things not seen.

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