But If Not, He Is Still God

When I was 19 and in college, I received a sobering phone call from my dad telling me he had been diagnosed with a rare kind of liver cancer. The news rolled off his lips in a matter-of-fact way, and he ended the conversation letting me know He was going to fight the disease but that He trusted the Lord with the future. I responded matter-of-factly, but when I hung up the phone, my quick forming and intense emotions burst. I ran out of the dorm, and for the next several minutes, I prayed. I begged God not to take my dad’s life. I reasoned with God, explaining that dad was a good man, my rock, my security, and we needed him in life. By the end of end of the prayer, I believed dad would be healed from the disease.

A Statement of Faith

While reading the book of Daniel recently, I was struck by the intensity of the situation in chapter three when three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were threatened with being burned alive if they didn’t bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar. What stands out in the midst of the intensity is the faithful statement from these men to the king. They don’t plead for their lives; they don’t beg for another way. Instead, they refuse to bow before the golden statue, making clear they only bow to the one true God, and they say this:

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  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 3:16-18)

Our God Is Able

The men stand in front of the fire and declare, “Our God is able to deliver us.” Do you believe that God is able to deliver you from your trials? It’s easy in the midst of difficulties to listen to the subtle lie from Satan that says: This is happening because God really isn’t able.

Is God truly able to heal diseases? Is He really able to completely forgive the sins that entangle? His Word says He is: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases…” (Psalm 103:3). He forgives and He heals. He is able.

Is God really able to soften a hardened and rebellious heart? Look at Paul in the book of Acts. He was a persecutor of Christians before He gave His life to Jesus. God used a Christian-hater to spread the gospel far and wide. God is able.

He is able because He is Lord. He is able because He said, “Let there be…” and there was. He is able because He reigns over all of creation, all of it! He controls the seas, the fires, and the winds, and He knows every creature that exists on earth. He is able because there is nothing out of His control. “To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

Jesus, the One who presents you blameless before God with great joy, is able. Come to Him believing fully and completely in the unmatchable ability of God.

Our God Will

The men continue on and declare not only that God is able to deliver them, but that he will deliver. For many, their statement seems uncomfortably bold. Are they being too presumptuous and over-confident?

Part of the hesitation to come boldly has to do with the attitude it can present. There is a large difference between demanding of God and praying boldly to God. Martin Lloyd-Jones says this in differentiating between the two approaches: “Pray urgently, plead, use all the arguments, use all the promises; but do not demand, do not claim. Never put yourself into the position of saying, ‘If we but do this, then that must happen.’” (The Final Perseverance of the Saints, 155)

But God wants us to come boldly to His throne in humility and awe. If we trust He is able, then we will pray with confidence. God is Holy. He is powerful. But He is not distant, and He hears every single prayer. From the five-year-old praying for a hang-nail to the grown-man’s pleas for forgiveness, he hears them all.

Ask your Father with conviction. Pray expectantly that the Lord will restore the relationship that has been broken. Pray believing that God will give you clarity in the big decisions you face. Pray hopefully that God will heal your disease. Pray these things by the power of the Holy Spirit knowing that God is able. And because He is able, pray boldly that He will.

But If Not

While the three men declare with assurance that the Lord whom they serve will deliver them from the fire, they say one concluding sentence that begins with these words: “But if not…”

He is able, He will, but if He does not, He is still our God. God’s plans do not always fall in line with our ideals. When we come to God shedding our fears and doubts and instead enwrap ourselves in His ability to hear and answer, we also come in faith knowing that His ways are not always our ways. Jesus is able to fully mend a broken relationship and heal diseases, but if not…He is still our Savior who promises complete restoration in eternity. Jesus is able to provide a job immediately, but if not…He is still our Sovereign Lord who is working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

My father passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. Before he died, he published a diary of his cancer journey, but I didn’t read the book in its entirety until many years later. When I finally did read it, one paragraph caught my attention more than any other. Dad had been praying for healing but continued with these words:

“Last night when I came home from the movie, I walked our black Lab, McGwire. That was the first time I really cried hard. I was alone with God and talked to Him. I told Him that if my death would strengthen my girls’ walk with him, then I would be happy to be taken.” (Diary of a Cancer, 25).

By God’s grace, and without knowledge of this intimate prayer, I grew in my relationship with Jesus in many profound and unexpected ways in the months following my dad’s death. His penned words were a deep and beautiful reminder that Jesus is able, Jesus will, but if Jesus does not…

He is still good.  

He is still faithful.

He is still God.