God will Defend You - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) February 23, 2021

There's no need to defend yourself. God will do it for you!

When things go wrong, it's so easy for us to want to defend ourselves saying, "It wasn't me!" or we may want to placate others with a "Sorry!" and/or explain by saying, "Well, what had happened was..."

However, the Book of Daniel gives some perspective. When we are serving the Lord, walking on the path of righteousness that He put us on for His name's sake (Psalm 23:3), we need only faithfully obey our God. No apologies necessary.

Daniel 3:16 - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

For context, King Nebuchadnezzar created a golden idol and instructed all his subjects to worship it. There was a roaring fire waiting for all who didn't. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused because their God demanded that they never put any god before Him or worship any idols.

They refused a man known as the "king of kings" (Daniel 2:37). Yet, they had no fear. They gave no apology.

They could have explained this to the king. After all, in the chapter before, the Bible tells us that Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by Daniel's God and in Daniel 2:47 - The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

Why not just help the king understand that they were servants of that same God? Most of us would have done that. We would have offered an explanation so as not to be barbecued.

Instead, the three men stood their ground, refused to bow, and were thrown into a fire. A fire where God Himself showed up, walked with them, and proved that nobody was above Him when He gave His children grace to walk out unscathed.

And they aren't the only examples from the Bible of people who chose not to defend themselves. Think of Jesus when He was before Pontius Pilate. He let His accusers call Him whatever they liked. He took no action. God defended Him - causing Him to resurrect and set the captives free. A blessing and honor that centuries later, you and I continue to benefit from.

There was also Jeremiah, who in Jeremiah 26 didn't try to stop the priests from killing him for speaking the word of the Lord. Rather than plead for his life, he simply restated the message and told those gathered they would "bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on the city and on those who live in it..." Jeremiah lived to see many more years.

The key is to live lives rooted in God so that when we are falsely accused, when we are targeted, and when the challenges arise, we can rest assured that the God who stood up for those who came before us, will equally defend us. And, He'll reward us for trusting Him in the face of adversity.

I pray you will join us for Praise & Pray at 12 Noon EST where we honor God and root ourselves in Him for an hour. He will show up when we call - Isaiah 65:24 - Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. God is our defender. He never fails.