Even IF Faith

What do you do when God does not show up the way in which you expected him to…the way you wanted him to, or in a way you would show up if you were God? That the plans in your life are not matching up with how you’d expect it to go and now you are living in a current reality where you might be facing a situation asking God…where are you? You thought you’d be married happily ever after but it doesn't look like you are going to be married happily after all…You’ve prayed, you gave, you served, you have been on your knees asking God to change a situation…you’ve told yourself time and time again that you’d change but nothings changed. You may never get to walk your daughter down the isle…you may never have the opportunity to buy a car seat or a high chair. Or your spouse dies sooner than you thought.

That no matter how much you have asked God to rescue you from your fear, anxiety, depression, mental heath issues, it just seems like there is no end in sight. How about your prodigal son or daughter, you’ve asked for years, fasted for years, and yet they are still not home. You’re always going to have financial problems, seemingly always getting passed up in your job. You’ve hit rock bottom and you are asking God, where are you? I am losing hope…I am losing faith…in fact based on a lot of these examples, many have left the faith, they have deconstructed, they have turned their back on God because they feel like God has turned his back on them. Because God is not showing up in the way in which you expected God to show up.

And depending on the church you grew up in, the Pastors you have listened to, the influencers you have watched the books you have read, and theology you have learned. You may have been told that God has promised us that we will not go through hard times. That you are going through this because of a sin issue, or you didn’t have enough faith. Or possibly we think God owes you. He owes you because of what you have done for him. You are feeling hopeless and you are asking God to show up.

I remember when my family and I lived in North Carolina my wife Karlee got incredibly sick, she lost 25 pounds in 4-5 weeks, doctors had no answers and we were thinking the worst cancer. And I remember one day, after weeks and weeks of pain. Karlee told me later that there was a day she prayed all day, reciting scripture to herself, believing with everything she had in her that God was going to heal her. She went to bed that night knowing the next day she would be healed. And you know what? She wasn’t, she was worse, and we were left hopeless and asking when will she be healed and where is God.

So today we are conducting this series Called “Top Played” where each communicator was told to give us your best message on your favorite bible passage. So today we are going to be in one of my Top Played passages of Daniel 3. Go ahead and open your bibles to Daniel chapter 3. In Daniel 3 we are going to enter into a conversation 3 men are having with the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Before we get there I need to give you context to the first 2 chapters.

In Daniel 1 we see that in 605BC the most powerful nation was Babylon and it was ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar. King Neb had a brilliant way in which to take over nations. They wouldn’t fight the entire country, instead they would go and take down its capital with its army, because if you control the capital, you control the country. They would gather the nobles, the royals, the strong, wise, brightest and best looking young men back to Babylon. They would take the royals because there is no one in the nation with a rightful claim to the throne who could lead a rebellion. If they take the Nobles because no one could fund an insurrection with them gone, they would take the youngest and brightest and best looking and they would go through Babylon university for three years. Where in that time they were indoctrinated with the Babylonian lifestyle and way. Then King Neb would place these young men back in their country as sheriffs of the territory. That way the captured country was being ruled by their own people who are agents of Babylon. Brilliant.

In Daniel 1 God allows Babylon to go into Judah and take over Jerusalem because of the evil kings who ruled. God gave them grace time after time not because God it tolerant. Hear me friends, God isn’t Tolerant, he is patience and his patience’s ran out. So he allowed his people to be taken into captivity and Babylon did what Babylon does. They took the nobles, royals and young men back and 4 of those young men were called, Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. Or you know the last three by their babylonian names…Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego. These three are throwing into Babylon U. However during this time they did not submit their ways to the Babylonians. Babylon may have taken them out of Israel, but they are did not take Israel out of them. They are standing firm in the rule and law of God even if they are in captivity. And guess what…they graduated top of their class and they were King Nebs favorites. They were so good at their jobs and so well liked they were not sent back to be sheriffs of Judah, but instead they were sent to the sheriffs of Babylon cities. Which I am sure you can logically conclude it was not received well. They may have lost their homeland, but they didn’t lose their faith in their God. They may have ruled over people, but God ruled over them.

So in Daniel 3, King Neb created a 90 foot statue in his image, and made a decree when you hear the song, when anyone hears these instruments, you will know, you are to bow down and to worship this image of the king, if you don’t you will be killed. And that’s what happened, except Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego don’t bow. They have known from their young age the commandment God gave, you will have no other Gods before me, do not worship idols, and they wouldn’t worship a king. Neb heard this and is furious, and he brings Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego, he tells them, that he knows they didn’t bow, and if you are a parent you know what I’m talking about when he tells these three men he is going to give them one last chance to do it correctly. If you don’t bow, you will be bound up together and thrown into the fiery furnace burning alive, and then listen to what the king says, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (V. 15) What God can save you from me.

Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego begin to speak and what they say is one of my favorite 3 verses in all of scripture. Just as their life was threatened, they say this, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. In essence, you already know, you already know where we stand, you’ve known from the begging, you already know that we will not bow down, you are not worthy of our time and you certainly are not worthy of our worship. He goes on “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty's hand.” They are blatantly disrespecting the King, but they are being nice about it. Have you ever received a backhanded compliment that you were not sure how to handle? People will tell me, well Pastor Cam that sermon was much better than the last one, great job! I’m standing there thinking…thanks I worked hard not to stink this time.

Verse 18 “But EVEN IF he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

Did you catch the line I love, my top played, did you get it? Verse 17 and 18 they say our God can, our God will, BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT. That line But Even If he does not, they have full confidence in Gods ability to save, and full faith in his sovereignty if they are not. This is what I call Even If Faith. Its the type of faith that isn't shattered easily, in fact its non-fragile. This is the type of faith that when you face uncertainty, husband or wife asked for the divorced, a cancer diagnosis, healing that you are believing in but not seeing, mental mental health issues you name it, it is the type of faith that says, GOD EVEN IF you don't show up the way I want or expect I will not give up my faith. Let's be honest in church for a moment, isn't this the type of faith we love to see in other people?

This is the faith that we admire to see, when we see stories of people losing loved ones, when we hear horrific stories of people's lives, one of my families best friend basically a sister lost her 5 year old daughter…and her faith gave me faith. Yet, these people are praising God, worshiping Jesus, saying that even though what's happened to them isn't good, that God is still good. I am seeing my wife seemlinly decompose in front of me not knowing what is happening and yet still believing that God will give us answers but even if he doesn't we will still worship him. That's the type of faith that we look up to. This is what these people are saying in the midst of all of this, there is a common theme in stories like this and its this, They Trust God. Even if Faith is Rooted in Trust. We trust in God…not just for our eternal security, but for our everyday lives. In the Even Ifs…

Even if faith is difficult, when it shouldn't be, especially as Jesus follower, but it is difficult because we have moved from Trust to Transaction. Let me explain, there is Even If faith…and If You Faith. Even if = Faith, If you = Transaction We have become transactional with God. Here is what I mean If You God…then I will…If You God will give me health, then I will remain faithful to you…If You God will give me a raise…then I will give…If You God will heal my mental heath then I will have stronger faith…If you God will show yourself to me…then I will believe…and if you don’t then I won’t. If you do your part I will do my part, and I expect you to do you part because I am doing everything a good christian is supposed to be doing and if you don’t then obviously you are not good. You know the crazy part these three young men were doing all the things good Jewish men were supposed to do, they didn't indulge in Babylonean culture, they stood up and out from the rest of the people, they held fast to the law and didn’t bow down and worship fake idols…and you know where it got them? Verse 23 “ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

It’s the furnace moments in life that people think that God should save them from, and over and over again one phrase I hear is “I am losing my faith” or “I have lost my faith” as I try to process for me itit goes back to transactional faith, as if the God of the universe owes you or me anything and its because we don’t have a proper definition of faith. In the New Testament the word Faith in the Greek is strongs G4103…it’s Pistos. Translated it can be used as the word faith. But as you know, the problem we have with faith is we replaced it with our feelings. If we feel God, then we have faith, if I feel the goosebumps in worship the Holy Spirit is here, if I read my bible and I feel good after God is with me, if I feel God I have faith in God, but if I don’t feel God then my faith dwindles. Many people in the years of being a pastor have told me they are losing faith because they don’t feel God.

And if we equate faith with our feelings in the dark moments of life, in furnace moments, its hard to feel God isn’t it? But oftentimes God through his sovereignty allows us to go through trials of many kinds, not to lose our faith, but to strengthen our faith that God has given us. Because the brother of Jesus James writes in James 1 when he says “Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you go through trials of many kinds. Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete. Not lacking anything.” Faith in God is like a muscle, it has to be tested, and it has to be put under pressure in order to grow. Faith is not a feeling, because if it is a feeling then faith is fleeting.

I remember years ago I was at a High School camp and I met a pastor named Derek who took a group of high school students to Haiti. They didn’t go to most places mission trips go, instead they went to one of the most remote places on the island. No running, water, no electricity and no Wi-Fi. Which means almost have the students were dead on arrival. HA! When talking with the pastor these Haitians through a translator were saying all the good things about living on the island, and then they said the worst part were the hurricanes. Because when they hit, they lose their crops, animals, crops, homes and every year they lose kids. They asked “how is your faith affected by this?” These Jesus following Haitians, didn’t understand the question. What does losing our animals, crops, homes and children have anything to do with our faith in God? That’s faith. That’s even if. Their faith isn’t tied to to a moment in their life. Their faith is rooted in who God is and the work of Jesus on the cross. They understand that God says that if you are in Jesus you will never be left nor forsaken. That God will work all things good to those called and according to HIS purpose. Faith is not our feelings.

Remember our word Pistos. It translated faith, but by definition it also means belief. Belief is connected to actions. If I believe that God is going to do something and God doesn’t do it then I won't believe anymore. If God does not show up the way you expect then you feel like you can revoke your belief in him. Similar to work, if you have a lazy co-worker you don’t “believe” they can do the job, and you’ll do it yourself. The phrase is, “I don’t believe in God anymore” they don’t believe because they prayed for God to for something and he didn’t show up the way they wanted. God didn’t show up so that means there is no God.

The last definition of Pistos is Trust. When you say, I trust you, you are giving someone one of the most important and initiate things you can give. Have you ever done a trust fall? It’s when you turn around fall back and trust the other person will catch you. But when you do a trust fall, you stop being able to have the ability to save yourself, and trust 100% that someone else will catch you. When you say that you trust in God, you are saying “God your will be done regardless of my will” Let’s be honest, if God abided by my will, and I got what I wanted, I’d have won the billion dollar lottery this year. If God did my will The broncos would win the Super Bowl every time, i’d be driving to church in a tesla and I’d be Pastor Carlyle in an iron man. Trusting in God is trusting his will, and his will is that Jesus would be glorified in every situation. But listen friends, trust isn’t tested when life is easy, its trusted when life is hard. You will never have even if faith if you never go through a test.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, trusted God and they still were thrown into the furnace. They’re will be times in life that we have our furnace moments and God doesn’t show up the way we expected him to but that does not mean that he isn’t present or he isn’t aware. In verse 24 after Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were firmly tied it says this

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” 25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (In the original wording it means the son of God. This is what we call the Pre-Incarnate Jesus. He shows up multiple times in the OT. Jesus was in the fire with them) 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here! Look how King Neb when from what God can save you to calling God the Most High. The very first thing that King Neb does when looking into the fire and seeing these men alive and walking around he realizes and glorifies who God is. If they were never thrown in King Neb would have never glorified. Its in the midst of the fire moments in our life when we have EVEN IF faith that others see it more clearly and wonder why we worship in the middle of it all.

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, this is the first time in this passage where they obeyed the order of the king.  27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. They fell in tied and they walked free, oftentimes we leave the fire better than when we went in. Most people when they get through a difficulty in life, most people don't say “I wish it never happened to me” rather they say, I don't wish it on anyone, but I am better now than I was then and my faith is stronger than it has ever been before. And now I have the opportunity to use my story to serve those who are going through it also. Why do so many people want to serve in students and kids? Most of the time they knew the mistakes they made and they want to help students avoid those mistakes and be rooted in Jesus. They know that Jesus makes your life better and he makes you better in life. Their even if faith, changed the course of a nation. You never know what difference your faith will make in the life of other people. Watch this.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

God does not save us from the fire, he saves us in the fire. God did not save us from our sin, he saved us while we were still sinners.  God does not save us from the situations, he does not simply rescue us out he rescues us in our situation and he joins you in the midst, as you have even if faith. Even if God doesn't show up the way I expect him to He is still my God and I am still his child. How we trust God in these moments determines how we will exit these moments. Even if my kids don't come home, even if my marriage falls apart, even if I get a cancer diagnosis, even if…my wife doesn't get healed from this unidentified illness.

Thats where we were, in North Carolina, in the middle of covid not knowing what was going on with Karlee. Praying in full faith that she would be healed and holding on to Even if. So as I told you she prayed believing the next day she would wake up healed…and she wasn't. We had no answers to what it was, but plenty of medical debt. And then she got a call the next day from a friend of our named Shane. He said, “Hey, I have been following your story, Cam had kept us updated, and I know you are coming to AZ for vacation and I think you should go to Dr. Robinson who is a natural path dr in scottsdale I think he can help and pinpoint what you are going through. Days later, Karlee was diagnosed with extreme mold poisoning and a few other things and was given a pathway to health. And 3 years later shes getting healthier and healthier.

God showed up not in the way we expected. He answered her prayers for healing not in the way she expected or frankly wanted. But we are better, she is better, but listen church, even if we never got a diagnosis, we would still be praising God. Because we don't worship God for what he will do, we worship God for what he has already done when he hung on a cross for my sin, when he forgave me of my tresspasses.

You are coming out of, going into, or in the middle of EVEN IF MOMENTS. And how you enter will i believe in most circumstances determine how you will exit. So how have you faced your EVEN IF moments in your life?

Even If. Not If You.