One of my favorite parts in the entire Bible is right here -- Shadrach and friends know their fate has been determined. Because they're unwilling to worship a false god, they're going to be case into the furnace. The temptation was to compromise, but they're entirely uninterested in giving any part of their souls over to worship of a false god, no matter how small or mindless the act would have been. Oh that we are all granted such courageous hearts!
What they say to the King is indicative of where their true treasure lies, their complete trust in God, and their perspective on eternity. They tell the King that God can save them with no doubts at all. But the choice to save them is God's, and God alone has that choice. They know they cannot force God's hand, but that doesn't change their behavior. Even if God doesn't save them, they say, they're unwilling to change their behavior. Just because God doesn't choose to save them from the furnace doesn't mean that God isn't God and worthy of our worship and praise. It merely means that God had plans bigger than what they could see in the moment.
God, grant that we may have the same perspective, the same trust, to know that even when our most desperate prayers go unanswered, that we believe that God is still God and we are still in God's hands!
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