What do you really want?

A New Year’s Message

The ultimate question …

What do you really want in life; in this New Year – as a follower of Christ?
How do you appraise life: life along green pastures, life in the valley, living in poor health, life in good health, the life of necessities, life in abundance, life in a struggling marriage, life in a good marriage, life with rebellious children, life with agreeable children, life in war with in-laws, life with agreeable in-laws, life with good friends, life with unfaithful friends, living in a good job, living in a bad job, living with bad leadership, life with good leadership, life in a thriving mission, life in a struggling mission, life in a good country, life in a struggling country…

Life is a double-edged sword. It’s a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows.
Maybe Jesus made a difference in the past year in your situation, circumstance, trial, problem, illness, a relationship issue, or problem with another family member or friend.

And while you rejoice over answered prayers, repeat yet-to-be-answered requests, and mourn over ‘no’ answers, what is becoming of you?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not allow their devotion to God to fall through based on his answers to their prayers be it a yes, wait, or no.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 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. 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.”

In their distress, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could hear the echoes of the prophets gone before them as they stood in the blazing furnace; “Though he slays me, yet will I hope in him; (Job 13:15); “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”

(Deuteronomy 32:39); “By the wounds of the rod evil is taken away, and blows make clean the deepest parts of the body. (Proverbs 20:30). “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-19.

And the moment King David’s resolve took complete hold of them, they affirmed, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4), the Son of God manifested his presence among them physically, the fourth figure King Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fiery furnace. Because while we wait for answers to our prayers, what we need most is to dwell in the presence of God.

And this is the truest answer to prayer – God’s presence. And when “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19). Then we can walk through and overcome our problems and challenges unbound, unchained, and unharmed like the three brave Jewish young men in King Nebuchadnezzar’s blazing furnace.

The fires of trouble will not harm your bodies, and the hair of your heads will not be singed, your robes will not be scorched, and there will be no smell of fire on you because your chief aim is to dwell and remain in God’s presence daily.

Happy New Year.