No Back-Up Plan

Daniel 3:16-25
King James Version

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
¹⁷ If it be so, 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.
¹⁸ 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.

I'm sure anyone reading this post knows all about the three Hebrew children and King Nebuchadnezzar.  How he wanted them to bow to his idol, and they wouldn't.  How he got really angry and said if you don't, I'll throw you into a furnace to be burned alive. 

The passage above is their answer to the king when he asked them what their problem was.  They let the king know that they had faith that God could save them.  It is pretty clear that they had no doubts on that subject.  But notice Verse 18, by saying "but if not" they recognized that God's ways were higher than theirs and were completely and unreservedly trusting in His purpose and plan. 

There have been so many times in my own life where I have "believed" God for something that He didn't do.  I have questioned my own faith in those times, thinking that a lack of faith was keeping God from doing what I believed He could do. 

As I think about these things, I look at the example of the three Hebrews, they believed God could and would deliver them. But they still thought maybe he wouldn't, and if He didn't, they were good with it.  They were all in with their trust in God.  No reservations.  They didn't have a back-up plan on how they would handle the situation if God didn't come through.

I understand a little better today the lack that I have perceived in my own life.  It's not a lack of faith or knowledge that God can do something.  It's the presence of a back-up plan in case He doesn't do something.  That is not who God is.  His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.  If we decide to trust Him, we need to trust him, period.  If we are praying and asking for His intervention in our lives, all the while planning on what to do if He doesn't show up, then we are not really all in. 

I want to be all in with God, with no back-up plan.  I trust Him, I know He can do wonderful, miraculous things.  And if He doesn't - I still trust Him, and still know He can.  No back-up plan!