Approximately 45% of Americans start the New Year with a resolution. However, only about 8% actually keep their resolutions for the year. Statistics tell us about 22% of resolutions fail after one week, 40% after one month, 50% after three months, and 60% after six months. Most New Year’s resolutions center around exercise, eating better, and spending less. While I am not against self-improvement, I do want to put my energy toward the eternal more so than the temporary.
The word resolve means to decide firmly on a course of action. The Scriptures show us what a resolute faith looks like in the lives of the three Hebrew Children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As young men, they were carried off to Babylon in captivity. When King Nebuchadnezzar demanded idol worship from them, they refused. He threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace, and when this did not scare them straight, he threatened to increase the temperature seven times hotter.
Their resolute faith answered the King, “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). Notice the all-important phrase, but if not. Even though they were filled with faith, God saw fit to make them face the fire. Why? Because God is looking for a fearless, resolute faith.
What we learn in the story of the three Hebrew children is that what seems like our Plan B is still God’s Plan A. I cannot imagine the thoughts that were going through their minds as they were being led to the fiery furnace. Scripture even says that the temperature killed the men who threw them into the fire (verse 22). In other words, what kills others is not going to kill you. Why? Because God is in the midst of our fires. The Lord knows the hotter the flame, the sweeter our fellowship with Him becomes. So don’t be afraid of your fiery trials. God is in them!
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