Daniel 3:18 - But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three Jews who had governing responsibilities in the province of Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.  The King had created a giant ninety by ninety foot image for everyone to worship.  The penalty for disobeying the king’s degree and worshiping the image was death by fiery furnace.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s creation and were brought before the enraged king, declaring their loyalty to their God.

I’ve always read this passage as magnifying Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s faith in God to save them in a time of crisis.  But I was amazed when reading 3:18 because it reveals the depth of their faith.  In 3:17, they speak boldy by faith that the God whom they serve is able to save them from the fiery furnace, and 3:18 continues to share that if he does not, the God whom they serve is worth dying for.

So often I find my faith in God dependent on the “correct, just, and happy” ending coming into reality.  I trust because I believe God will get me out of this bad sitation; I trust in God because I believe he will get me to that better situation.  God does want the best for those who love him, but my faith needs to be switched up so it is not so rooted in the “what” God will do for me.

This got me thinking about the kind of questions to assess my spiritual health.  I’ve been hearing the word “Spiritual Formation” a lot recently.  It sounds like the kind of tangible, intentional spiritual discipleship that I want to make a norm in my life, so its brought to the top of my mind a few questions that I have been wrestling with.  I’d like to package them up and maybe turn them into a type of personal spiritual assessment in my next post.