With God there is no disappointment, there is no hope that is ever lost and the biggest of all, no request that is ungranted. Man may not be able to do everything that is good but God is able.

In our journey of self-denial and obedience to God’s will as an indication that we desire to correct the mistakes of our ancestors, one of our biggest problems is faith. As we struggle in this daycare facility called earth, we ask now and then as we fall and get muds on our body, is the Daddy that sent us outside to play still alive? Does he really love and care for us? Does he really have good plans for us? They tell us that he has prepared great surprises for us, but we get impatient and we make a golden calf instead of waiting; such tends to be the nature of our faith.

But humility and faith in God produce patience, for it is only with humility we can realize how erroneous our logic can be. We are out trying to distribute food to the poor but suddenly rain starts we nearly run into a poor man who paces across the road, and yet we fail to stop and attend to them long enough to notice a shelter full of poor people they’re walking towards but drive to our usual place of rendezvous only this time there’s only 2 to 3 people there not enough to even eat the food. And as we go back with food and a severely wet body, our usual route is blocked forcing us to turn back the same direction we came, and we begin to wonder why the grace of God has abandoned us.. but suddenly by his grace as we drive back, we now notice the shelter, and our wonderment turns to laughter and embarrassment.

Perhaps the greatest way to trust God is to truly believe as in the life of Jesus that whatever God has given is enough. When they brought five loaves and two fishes, he thanked God that they were enough. Even the manna in the desert was enough and speaking to the rock was enough. Trusting God is not just knowing God cannot disappoint us but accepting we may not know the full extent of his plan for us. The perfect response to this dilemma is however found in that answer of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:

“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”

There are three interesting aspects we can explore on this response:

1. Power: God is the alpha and omega (a descriptive phrase used for lack of words to express his Omnepotence), His power is unchallenged and nothing is impossible for God. God’s power cannot be subjected to doubt without repercussions. It is from this power we draw confidence as God’s servant or children knowing that every matter of our lives is in His hands if we abstain from evil and endure in His will. Even though they didn’t know God so much, they still knew the matter of the fiery furnace was trivial for a God who parted the red sea for thousands of people to cross.

2. Humility: Enduring in God’s will requires humility and faith. Humility in knowing that we are but very little compared to any heavenly being created by God and in knowing that we may not yet see the full extent of his plans even for our own lives. It is this humility that enabled them to offer a self sacrifice for they were ready to forego their own desires/lives if it meant dying for God.

3. Trust: Perhaps the most beautiful aspect to explore is the profound trust in the face of danger. They had been quietly faithful but bold knowing that it would greatly displease God if they bowed to the image. And when it came to answer for their actions, one can deduce they certainly wanted the people to know they were worshipping a false god and they trusted God to show them that it was a false god even if it meant them dying. They trusted that whatever happened next was God’s will for they did nothing other than be faithful to him over a King who did not know better.

Oftentimes, trust can become very slippery, especially when we feel that we have overstepped our boundaries. When Elijah destroyed the prophets at Kishon Valley, fear overwhelmed him (not because God cannot protect him but because he knew he had shed blood – and he justly ran for his life). John the Baptist asked to be sure that the one who was prophesied to set prisoners free was indeed the one he proclaimed and yet he himself was in prison, and there was not a new Messiah coming after him – possibly meaning his work was not yet done. Yet this was but an expression of his humanity and physical reasoning. God recognizes our weaknesses and the foundation of our faith is trust in him.