有時，我們會面對生活中極大的打擊；但有時會有出人意外的奇蹟發生。

被擄到巴比倫的三個年輕人，站在令人生畏的巴比倫國王面前大膽地宣告，無論在什麼情況下，他們都不會敬拜那巨大的金像。他們同聲表明：「如果我們被扔在火窯裡，我們所事奉的上帝必能拯救我們；王啊！祂必拯救我們脫離烈火的窯和你的手。即或不然，王啊！你要知道，我們決不⋯⋯向你所立的金像下拜。」（但以理書3章17-18節，新譯本）

沙得拉、米煞和亞伯尼歌雖被丟入烈火的窯中，但上帝卻奇妙地施行拯救，他們的頭髮沒有燒焦，衣服也沒有火燒的氣味（19-27節）。他們已準備赴死，即使上帝沒有拯救他們，他們對上帝的信心仍堅定不移。

即使我們所愛的人未得醫治，即使我們失去工作，即使我們遭受迫害，上帝要我們全心倚靠祂。有時上帝會救我們脫離險境，有時祂不會這樣做。即或不然，我們仍可以緊緊地抓住這個真理：「我們所事奉的上帝必能拯救我們」，祂深愛我們。在我們經歷的每一個火窯般的試煉中，經歷的每一個「即或不然」，祂都與我們同在！

Sometimes life deals us a tremendous blow. Other times the miraculous happens.

Three young men, captives in Babylon, stood in front of the fearsome king of that land and boldly proclaimed that under no circumstances would they worship the giant image of gold towering above them. Together they declared: “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 . . . we will not . . . worship the image” (Daniel 3:17–18). 

These three men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—were hurled into the fiery furnace; and God miraculously delivered them so that not a hair of their head was singed and their clothing was smoke-free (vv. 19–27). They had been prepared to die but their trust in God was unwavering—“even if” He had not saved them.

God desires that we cling to Him—even if our loved one isn’t healed, even ifwe lose our job, even if we are persecuted. Sometimes God rescues us from danger in this life, and sometimes He doesn’t. But the truth we can hold firmly is this: “The God we serve is able,” loves us, and is with us in every fiery trial, every even if.