The Alpha of Rescue

UV 3162/10000 The Alpha of Rescue
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king
Daniel 3 v 17
The relationship we enjoy with a person influences the words we speak about that person to others. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three friends of Daniel spoke with one voice that their God whom they serve was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace. The Lord Jesus heard their words and scooped them out of the fiery flames that were seven times hotter than usual as King Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated to that extent when they refused to kowtow to what he said. Their skin was untouched, not even a hair on their heads was singed. The Lord had done what is scientifically impossible to rescue them from death, injury and punishment. He had delivered them from the cruel hands of the earthly ruler.


We serve God by just being faithful to Him, by believing that nothing is impossible for Him, by knowing that He is sovereign and above all forces and rulers of this universe. We prove our faithfulness by the stand we take even when facing life-threatening dangers and circumstances. We serve God by trusting His promises, by taking shelter or refuge in these in our times of crisis and challenge. Pro-blems are needed for G0d’s pro-mises to be tested, for our spiritual pro-gress. Each testimony of rescue or deliverance is a build up to the next spiritual milestone. The rescue of his three friends from the burning hot furnace prepared and strengthened Daniel to take a similar stand of faith when confronted with the challenge to foreswear his faith in Jehovah or to be thrown in the lions’ den. Likewise in our lives, every breakthrough in a crisis, every deliverance by the Lord prepares us for the next level of faith. Scripture says that if He has delivered us in six troubles, will He not in a seventh? Seven being a number indicating completion, it implies that the Lord will deliver us from all our trials and troubles in life. King David also when faced with many testing situations recalled how the Lord had delivered him in his days as a shepherd from the lion and the bear.


When we recall all the ways and times the Lord has rescued us, our faith is greatly strengthened. A song of thanksgiving and praise emanates from my heart every time I recall how the Lord delivered me from death in the sea and from death in the world’s first human bomb assassination of a former Prime Minister. Frequent recall of such wonderful deliverance strengthens the faith of the hearers also. For faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God along with testimony of how real and true it proved in the lives of living witnesses and survivors around the world and right through history. Stories of rescue are accounts of faith being tested empirically and experientially to which no one can have a counter argument. We have stories of rescue where the rescuer did not suffer any risk or loss while there are other stories where the rescuer dies in the attempt to rescue another. These are cases of sacrificial rescue. When I was in school, I recall how a school mate rescued his cousin from drowning in a farm well but he himself fell and died in it. Jesus dying on the cross is also the true and historical account of how God became man and died on the cross to rescue people across all nations and cultures from eternal danger and death.