Even If He Doesn’t

Scriptures: Hebrews 10:23, Psalms 9:10, Psalms 86:1-10

I Will Still Bless You

We all face difficult times throughout our lives, and the Bible is full of stories that show different characters going through trials at different times. We cannot avoid difficulties, but it is up to us how we respond to them. 

God’s Word reminds us again and again that He is faithful and stands by us. Even when we feel alone in the midst of trials, Psalm 9 says that the Lord “never abandons those who seek Him”. 

One night, while cooking, my daughter made me listen to a song of worship that provoked something powerful in me. I want to share some of its verses with you:

I will still bless you 

in the middle of the storm,

in the middle of my trials.

I will still bless you 

in the middle of the road, 

when I don’t know which way to go. 

I have a reason to bless you. 

I have a reason to bless you.

(Promises, Maverick City Music)

Now, every time I hear this song, time after time, I feel that the Lord is asking me these questions:

Will you still love me if I don’t do what you ask?

Will you still serve me even if I don’t do what you want?

Will you still love me, even if you don’t know which way to go?

Will you still trust me, even if things look a little shaky around you?

Will you still bless me even if I don’t…? 

A very clear example of someone who continued to bless God in the midst of the storm is King David. In Psalm 86, we can see how he cried out to God for help, how he expressed that he was distressed and in need. Even in his worst condition, he put his trust in God and declared, “All the nations you have created will come, Lord, and before you they will bow down and glorify your name. For you are great and you work wonders; you alone are God.”

I believe God wants to ask you the following question today: Will you still serve, love, and bless Me, even if you have not received your miracle?

Scripture: Daniel 3:1-18

Your Life’s Sentence

It is in our questioning and difficult moments that, as children of God and as believers, we have to ask ourselves if we are going to stand firm and continue to believe that God is good. We have to decide if we will continue to trust, even if we don’t understand why, or if we will give up on our situation.

You may not understand anything about your circumstances today, but I encourage you to set your sights on God, on His promises and faithfulness, which will never end. 

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that every time a certain music played, everyone must worship the golden statue he had built. Anyone who did not comply with this would be thrown into a fiery furnace. What madness! 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Hebrew men, taken as slaves to Babylon. These three men were faithful to the king, but when they were asked to worship false gods, things changed, they did not bow down. They remained standing, unlike the others. 

In spite of this, the king gave them a second chance. They, however, remained in their position, even if this meant death. So they were taken to the furnace, which was seven times hotter than usual, and once inside, the king noticed there was a fourth person with them. God was there!

I don’t know about you, but when I need to start a fire or light a fireplace, my hands, my hair, my clothes, everything smells of smoke. When these men came out of the furnace, they didn’t even have the scent of smoke on them. 

I think their words are so powerful that I would consider them the statement of the year, a phrase worthy of posting on social media.

“…the God we serve is able to deliver us from the it…But even if he does not…”#evenifhedoesnot Daniel 3:17-18 NIV

My wish is that at the end of this devotional you can keep this phrase and make it your own. Make it your hashtag for the rest of the year, the rest of your life. 

Scriptures: Exodus 20:2-4, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 40:28-31, Jeremiah 32:27

A Conviction of Who God Is

We cannot serve a God we do not know. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew God very well. I want to remind you that today we serve the same God, who is faithful and just. 

These three men disobeyed the king of Babylon to remain faithful to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is not possible to disobey a king without having an incredible conviction of the God we serve. 

The men in the story knew what the Bible says about worshipping other gods, that worship should be dedicated to God alone. With that conviction, they experienced faithfulness. These young men stood before King Nebuchadnezzar with the confidence of knowing their God, the God of the impossible. 

Do you have that conviction in your life? Can you stand before the enemy when unexpected things happen, saying: “Beware, Satan. I know what God is capable of doing. If I were you, I would watch my back because my God is with me.”

Perhaps you find it a little difficult to make that statement in faith, or perhaps you wonder how these young men could be so sure that God could deliver them.

If we want to know God, we need to dwell on His Word, study it, and meditate on it, because the more we read, the more we learn about who He is. The Bible tells us that our God is faithful, good, generous, merciful, just, and compassionate. He does not get tired, but gives strength to the weary. He is eternal and nothing is impossible for Him. 

I hope you live with the conviction that your God is with you in every situation; if we know who he is, we will never doubt what He can do in our lives!

Scriptures: Job 2:1-10, Hebrews 13:6, Job 19:25-27

A Type of Faith That Says: “Even if He Doesn’t”

What is the condition of your faith? I love that in today’s story, we can witness a faith that says, “Even if He doesn’t”.

This means that even if things don’t go well for me, even if I lose my job, even if I haven’t yet received my healing, even if that relationship hasn’t yet been restored,  even if I may not have been accepted to college, in spite of all that, the Lord is with me. It means that I continue to trust, serve, and move forward, even if things don’t go well. 

Job was one of those people with this kind of faith. He lost everything—his family, his health, and his resources. His wife had even told him to curse God and die. But Job’s faith was much deeper. He trusted God in spite of his circumstances. He was convinced that God would have the last word and he continued to believe in His goodness even when things were not going well. 

Would you still worship Him even if He didn’t do what you were asking? 

When life puts you under pressure, what comes out of your heart? What comes out of your mouth?

In 1992, when I was ten years old, my parents migrated to Sydney, Australia. I remember the pain I felt in my heart, knowing I would not see my grandmother for a long time. She was practically like my second mother.

After we moved, I only saw her on our wedding day, and after that it was fourteen more years before I saw her again, when I moved with my husband and children to Buenos Aires. Two weeks after landing, we went to Rosario so she could meet her great-grandchildren. 

I remember that before we moved, I told my mom, “I promise you that I will take care of our grandmother.” I planned to take her home and help her to be well. I was so excited.

We spent some beautiful days with her where she was able to meet my children, and I told her I would come back to get her. But two days after I arrived in Buenos Aires, I received a call from my cousin telling me that my grandmother had passed away. 

At that moment, I felt such a great pain in my heart, an immense disappointment. Immediately I said, “Lord, why did You do this to me? Why did You take my grandmother away? Why did You disappoint me like this? Why didn’t You give me more time with her?” I had plans to take care of her, so many plans that could not come true. 

I honestly felt that God had failed me. At that moment, I had to arrest those thoughts, and at that point is when I felt that He told me, “Focus on the good things, the nice moments you had with her.”

It was true. God had given me those days to be with my grandmother, and she had the opportunity to meet my children. When I realized this, I had to change my perspective, and instead of appealing to God, my words became words of gratitude, thanking Him for His goodness.

It was a very hard time for me, but my heart knew that God was still in control. 

I want you to know that even when things don’t go our way, He is still faithful, He is still good. We must not stop trusting and believing, because He is an all-powerful God.

Scriptures: Daniel 3:22-30, Isaiah 43:2

We Won’t Get Burned

Today I want to remind you that you are not alone, whatever your situation and wherever you are. You may think that you are going through the fire alone. You may think that you are burning and that nothing will get better. But you need to know that God is also there by your side, with you in the midst of your situation, however difficult it may be. He will not let you burn. 

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the statue of gold Nebuchadnezzar had built. This made him so angry, he ordered the fire to be made seven times hotter than normal.

The enemy does not like it when we, the children of God, stand firm in spite of what is happening around us. But as in today’s story, I believe that you, too, will come out of the situation you are facing without getting burned and without the smell of smoke, because the Lord is with you. 

The enemy will always want to throw darts into your life. He will try to attack you in any way possible. But because God is with you, you will be able to stand firm in the name of Jesus. I want to encourage you today to continue to be filled with faith and conviction that our God is good, no matter how difficult life is. 

In today’s story, the king could see that in the middle of the fire there were not three, but four men walking inside the furnace, and the fourth one had a divine appearance. 

I want to remind you that you will not simply walk out of that difficult situation without the smell of smoke, but the people around you will see that God is with you in the midst of the flames, just as he was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In your situation, in the storm, everyone will see that God is with you. He is always present, you will not be burned. 

I encourage you to keep going, keep trusting with a faith that believes, even if God doesn’t do what we expect. 

His promises for your life are yes and amen, and even if things don’t happen as you would like, even if the promise seems late to come, God is faithful and knows what is best for you. Keep trusting, keep looking to Him, and stay firm in His promises. He is faithful.