Monday, July 12, 2010

"I love you anyway" love

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 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." Daniel 3:16-18

This year at camp we are focusing on the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (or "Dan, Rack, Shack and Go" as I like to say). One thing that keeps sticking out to me is the love Shardrach, Meshach and Abednego have for God.

One of the things I am always struck by is how God loves us in spite of the fact that we never get it right. He sees who we really are and loves us anyway. That kind of love is what moves me the most to do what's right. However, in my life as a Christian I have gone through many seasons of doubt. These times in my life have almost entirely centered around me doubting that God is really a good God. You see, sometimes, things haven't turned out the way I thought they would. For whatever reason, the circumstances I found myself in seemed contrary to my expectation of a good God. I imagin that at some time or another this happens to most of us. It seems that life rarely goes the way we planned for it to, and we don't always get what we want. Sometimes life is just hard, for what seems like no reason at all. It's at times like these when I need to hear Shadrach, Meshach adn Abednego's words. But even if he doesn't save us, we will not worship the golden idol... In other words, they're saying "Even if God doesn't do what we think he should, we will still do what's right." You see, they have that "I love you anyways" love for God. I wish I was more like them.

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