Words of Faith
January 4, 2023
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18
Did you get to watch enough football during the holidays and on New Year’s Day? There were so many exciting games, close finishes, and even triumphant wins. If your team won, I want to personally congratulate you!
On Monday night, I also saw the story of Damar Hamlin unfolding. A defender with the Buffalo Bills, Damar took a hit in the chest and then fell to the ground with cardiac arrest. Paramedics administered care, CPR, and transported him to a local Cincinnati hospital where the Bills were playing the Bengals. They resuscitated Damar, and, as I write this, Damar remains hospitalized in the ICU in critical condition.
In the moments and hours surrounding that event, millions of people watching the game were in shock. Many of them joined together in prayer and some donated to his family or charity.
Dan Orlovsky, an ESPN Football analyst and former quarterback, stopped his broadcast duties and began to pray, aloud and on camera, for Damar. I’m grateful for Dan. I’m grateful for the millions of others who prayed for, cared for, and love Damar. I join them in praying that God brings complete healing.
In a moment of crisis, it may feel natural for you to pray. Even those who are non-religious may pray. But what about when prayer is not culturally expected? Even prohibited? Will you pray then? Dan Orlovsky must have weighed his decision to pray live on ESPN, even in that moment of crisis.
Christians who live in America can be tempted by the religious freedom here, to rely upon that freedom as a block in the personal foundation of faith. But what if religious freedom was gone? For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel, they lost religious freedom and their ruler established a false god for the entire nation. He mandated prayer and worship to that false god, or people would face death!
Their response was an example of amazing faith. They declared their trust in God’s power to deliver them. But this is the best part to me: they said, “Even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” I invite you to read Daniel chapter 3 to see how it turned out.
I pray for Shadrach-Meshach-Abednego kind of faith in my own spiritual life. I pray for that kind of faith for you. For our entire church. That God would be worshipped in a land full of faithful Jesus followers, more so than this simply being a Christian nation. May God reign in your heart this year.