“Faithful in the Fire” Cyrus Satoafaiga | Daniel 3:13-18

Chapter 1: Welcome

All right, good morning and welcome. You know, as I stand up here and I look out into the sanctuary, it's such a joy to see us all gathered here today in the presence of our Lord. Amen. But whether you're here joining us in this room or you're joining us online or you're still trying to figure out this thing called life. Or maybe you're still trying to make sense of this thing called life and faith.

Well, I want you to know that you're not on this journey alone. because I'm currently in the season where I'm still trying to figure things out myself. So, I was let go from a job weeks ago, maybe a couple months ago now. And it definitely wasn't something that I had planned. And it certainly wasn't something that I would have chosen. But what it has given me in return, it has given me time, time of reflection, time for more prayer, time to see God more intentionally to see what his next assignment for me is.

Right? And so in this time of season, it's teaching me a lesson. And in this lesson, it's teaching me being faithful in the fire. So our scripture reading today is going to be found in the book

Chapter 2: Scripture Reading Daniel -18

of Daniel 3:es 13 to 18. Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury gave command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound and the horn, flute, harp, liar, and sultry, and symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good.

But if you don't, but if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fury furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the bur uh from the um burning fury furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, oh king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up for us.

So this right here is absolute faith in God. Right? These guys at this very moment is faced with pressure and consequences, right? They're they're only given two choices, two options. You either bow or you burn.

So their faith to stand right before the king and to look at the king straight into his face and tell the king, "Our God is able to deliver us. Even if he doesn't deliver, we will still not bow." So let me put it like this. God can deliver, but our faith isn't built on what God can do for you. It's built on what on on who God is, even though he doesn't show up, right? And even if he doesn't move the way we expected, you still don't bow.

So I am who I am and I look the way I look,

Chapter 3: Your Habits Reveal Who You Are

right? Because of what I do daily lives rent free in my life. And my life isn't based on goals. It's based on I'm shaped by the habits, right? Because my habits don't lie.

They reveal who I am. Okay? And so as I train my body, my mind and my spirit in Jesus every single day, that is what forms me. You know, I'm not defined by what I say occasionally, but I I'm defined by what I do consistently. And so you have to build your habits, your rituals, and your routines so that it they can serve you, right?

So cuz when life gets tested and is pressured and you're faced against adversity and that heat is turned up, guess what? You don't rise to the moment. You fall back on your strong habits. And so I'm not going to encourage you to fall back on weak and crappy habits that you created, right? Because the last thing you need is to fall back on these weak and crappy habits and all you're getting is broken results every single time.

And so and the thing about this is we we we want immediate answers and we want quick results from God, right? God, please fix this now. God, can you please take this pain away from me now? God, can you fix my relationship right now? God, can you give me this job right now?

God, can you heal this person? And I get it. You've been praying so hard and so consistently for so long and believing in him that for him to come through, but still no change, no results, nothing has occurred yet. Don't expect God to move on your time because God is working in the waiting and he has a plan for you. And in the and during this time of delay, you got to trust in God because what he's doing right now at that time is he's protecting you from something deeper, right?

For something greater and he's protecting you and he's preparing you for something that you don't see. And at the same time, he's working on something deeper what you had asked for. So trust in God and stay faithful in the fire. And just because God is silent doesn't mean that God isn't changing something within you during that time. That's a faith that says, "I don't serve a God because he rescues me.

I serve a beg I serve a God because he is worthy and that's a and that is an identity based faith. My trust in God is rooted in who he is and who I am because of him not because of what he does for me.

Chapter 4: The Problem with Revival Culture

Right? So you look at the revivals today. No. So you look at these three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. And these guys also refuse to buy into the crowd, the music playing, people worshiping and bowing down to the statue.

Because the king said, "When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, liar, and sultry and symphony with all kinds of music and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good. Just because it looks right, it may feel right, it may sound good, you still don't bow." And so you take the revival of today, right? You have about 2 to 3 5,000 people and some have about 100,000 people in in attendance on social media, right? Music playing, lights flashing, you got the young adults dancing, shouting and praising. There's nothing wrong with it and because a lot of these young young adults lives have been changed because of these events, right?

And these events have brought these guys to Jesus. But at the same time, God uses these moments to reach to reach the lost. But understand these are only moments, right? So people come to Jesus in the moment, but a lot of these moments don't turn into lifestyles. So you take social media, it's a lot of hype.

It's a lot of hype. And I say this because when you watch social media and you see these revivals, all they show is just snapshots, highlights, the glitz and glamour of the moments that look so powerful on social media. But what they don't show you is when the music stops and when the word is being preached and there's conviction in that room. They're not showing you that thousands of people sleeping. Thousands of them on their scrolling on their phones.

There's thousands of them checked out. There's thousands of them making their having random conversations about with each other. Hey, what's the next show on Netflix? Scrolling through looking at the short clips on Twitter, right? Hey, you watch that movie on Peacock and then they're posting themselves on Tik Tok during the revival service, right?

And so those are the things that they don't show you. And some of them are making multiple trips outside the arena going to the restroom and then making their way back in 10 minutes before the next song comes on. Those are moments that that don't they don't show you. But then all of a sudden the music comes back on and then you got this jolt of energy and everyone's back up dancing, shouting and praising again. Right?

And I can't tell you the what hearts are truly changed in those moments. I can't. Only God can. I only can tell you from what I see. Right?

So this goes to show you uh tell you that we could all be in the room but not present at heart at the same time. So keep the same energy and fire when it comes to God's word being preached. John Wesley a founder of Methodism grew up in a Christian home ordained in 1725 and became a priest in 1728. He grew up in the church became a priest priest and served in the ministry for 13 years. Took him 13 years to realize he didn't have true saving faith during his time in his ministry.

He admitted in his journal, "I went to America to convert the Indians, but oh, who shall convert me?" It wasn't until he attended an outdersgate meeting that he was born again. Right? So, he was preaching and doing ministry for 13 years before he knew Jesus. Before he was born again, DL Moody, one of the greatest American evangelists in history, he was a shoe salesman in Boston. He he was a regular church attender.

He attended u Bible study regularly and he associated associated with believers but he still was not saved. And it wasn't until his Sunday school teacher Edward Kimell felt convicted to talk to him about the about the gospel about Christ. So he walked into the store one day found Moody in the back and he started um sharing the gospel with El DL Moody and that is when Moody gave his life to Christ in the store. Not at church, not at Sunday school but in the shoe store, right? It's just like the woman at the well when she encountered Jesus at the at the well, right?

That's when she gave her heart. She believed and she gave her and her life changed. And it wasn't at the temple. It wasn't at a religious gathering. It was in middle of her day, everyday life at the well.

Chapter 5: Revival Starts in Your Heart

So just so [clears throat] you know that this kind of revival that you see on social media isn't coming and it's never coming, right? Because revival is already here. Revival starts in your heart, right? So when you yield to Jesus as your Lord, Master, and Savior and the transforming and and there's transformation in your heart, that's revival. The Bible says present your body as a living sacrifice, that's revival.

Take up your cross daily for Jesus. That's revival, right? So just know that revival is not event. It's not event you have to attend to accept Jesus. Revival is a surrender life to him, right?

As your Lord, Master, and Savior. So, you ever walk into church for the first time and there's about 300 people and the energy is rocking, loud music and hands are lifted and voices are loud and that's the wow moment for you, right? And so, this is amazing. This is awesome. This is powerful.

But before you know it, you start lifting up your hands too. You start moving the way the crowd moves. You start worshiping the way they worship because it feels so good and it feels so right. But the one thing I I need I want to I want you to be careful of is it can become a routine. Okay?

And when I say that when I when it becomes a routine, it be it can become a learned behavior and not personal conviction because there's a difference between being moved by the presence of God and being shaped by the presence of the crowd. All right, people. So these Hebrew boys stood firm and chose not to follow or be shaped by the crowd or bow down to the statues. And God is not going to compete for your heart if you're already if you're already bowing down to things um than him, right? God doesn't share his place

Chapter 6: What Are You Bowing To

because he is Lord. But there are many of us here today in this room and out there who are still bowing. We're not bowing down to statues, but you're bowing down to money. You're bowing down to success. You're bowing down to comfort.

You're bowing down to stability. You're bowing down validations. You're bowing down to opinions. You're bound down to social media. You're bowing down to careers.

You're bowing down to people. You're bowing down to lust. You're bowing down pornography. You're pouring down to alcohol, pouring down to drugs. You're bowing down to sin.

These are all temporary reliefs. But none of these things list of things that you bow down to is eternal. This will never sustain you for the long run. And there are many of you, some of you right now thinking, man, I've already bowed. Feeling that you've gone too far and too deep because you bow too many times, right?

Made too many compromises. Feeling like it's too late. My life is all messed up. But did you know God can rearrange your life even after you messed it all up? Right?

You messed it up. You cheated. You murdered. You're you're an addict. You're a lie.

You're a sin. But God will forgive you because he loves you. Right? But what remains from your past sins are scars. Those will never go away.

Jesus says, "Reach your finger here and look at my hand." Jesus was res resurrected and fully victorious, but still carries scars. Healing doesn't erase all the scars. Sometimes some of us are walking around with scars, with scarred hearts, scarred past, scarred stories, scarred habits. But that's what sin does. It leaves marks and and it leaves scars.

But what God God doesn't always erase the scars, but he does forgive the sin and he makes you new. The God that the Holy Bible talks about, the God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo refused to bow away from, the God that was in the fire with Shadrach and Mach is the exact same God we praise and worship every single day till to this day. The same God who delivered Daniel from the lion's den, partied the Red Sea for Moses, brought down the walls of Jericho, sustained Elijah in the wilderness, restored David from his failures, went to the cross for our sins, and rose again. And he is still saving. Yes, this is the same exact God that is with us today, people.

The same yesterday, today, and forever. You know, because at the end of the day, every time you bow to something, you're really searching for something deeper and you don't realize it, right? You're looking for something eternal. You're looking for peace. You're looking for security.

You're looking for love. And the only person that can pro provide that for you is Jesus. So, in this season, it's teaching me a lesson. And this lesson is teaching me something very powerful. And that's staying faithful in Jesus in the middle of these trials and tribulations.

And I've learned that faithfulness um isn't just proven when when my life is good, but it's been proven to me when everything is falling apart. Because anybody can praise God when everything's going right and everything's working in their life. But not everyone can stay faithful and praise God throughout the whole process, you know. So I learned early in my life, not just from scripture, but from my mom. I miss my mom.

I love that woman. Right? And so she was one of a kind. My mom was a strong woman and she led our home with discipline. Um, she corrected with conviction and she protected with strength.

I'm telling you, man, my mom was a strong woman, a strong- minded woman, strong character woman who loved fiercely, right? She loved protectively. She loved sacrificially. And her love, her love doesn't back down. And she loved you so much where she will fight you.

My mom will fight you. Yeah, my mom was MA. She would have joined MMA back in the days. That's how tough my mom was, you know? And so, um, my mother had her ways of saying encouraging things to me to keep me pushing and keep moving forward, right?

And I'm not going to translate all that she has said in her some more encouragement. Um, but just know that it came from a place of love, right? because she used a lot of colorful and beautiful choice of words, right? And and it's not deemed appropriate for our church service here and it's not appropriate for our spiritual ears. So, the last thing I need is Pastor Chris saying uh a last minute we we're having a last minute elders meeting uh following the service. [laughter] So, let me just say my mom's message was wasn't always soft, but her message was very clear, right? Suck it up, buttercup.

Right? She didn't want to hear my complaints, right? And so she told me like it was and she spoke truth into my life to tell me what life was really like, what what what life is really is to keep it moving, to keep it pushing. And I pick up a lot of traits from my mom. That's who I am, right?

She's my DNA, um my characteristics, my traits, my genetics. That's part of my makeup and who I am. And so I've learned in this

Chapter 7: Don't Lose Your First Love

time of season that your faithfulness in Jesus changes everything. And so make sure you don't lose your first love because of trials that you face. And I'm not talking about your first girlfriend, your ex-wife, or your first love when everything was so new and enjoying, right? And brand new. I'm talking about what the Bible says about first love.

The moment when you first gave your life to Jesus Christ, when you surrendered and you opened your heart to him and you allowed him to be the Lord and Savior of your life. You all remember that moment, right? Your faith was strong and fresh. Your hunger for God was amazing. You couldn't wait to go pray and serve him, right?

But along the way through the season, many of you have become spiritually fatigued. We all become spiritually fatigued. Yes, I said it. Because spiritually fatigue is a real thing. Every believer goes through this at some point in their life.

King David went through it. Psalm 61:2, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I." He is openly admitting to God that he is overwhelmed. And many of you stay in this season of spiritual fatigue for a long time in your walk and in your ministry and you're fighting sin. Many of you stay in this by justifying your spiritual condition by proclaiming your self-worth. I turn your phones off.

I've been attending church for years. I've been I've been attending Bible study for years. I've been serving on the worship team for years. I go to retreats. You assure yourself by saying that God knows my heart because you think you're righteous in your own eyes.

Yes, God does know your heart, but he also knows our thoughts, right? And the excuses are how you try to manipulate being his workman and his builder. This is where the real issue comes in. This is where the real issue comes in because the greatest need that you need right now as a believer is peace with God. Many of you might think that you're not at war with God.

Whether you realize it or not, there's a war going inside of you. And it shows up in your relationships. It shows up in your marriage. It shows up at work. And it shows up in your priorities.

We're all fighting battles nobody else can see but God, right? We're all battling an addiction. Addiction to drugs, addiction to sex, pornography, and fornication, addiction to gossip, get into uh addiction to approval from from others. And these are addictions God already talked about to let go, right? He talked about it in 1 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Galatians, First Corinthians, First Peter.

So go back and read his word. God didn't just give you confusion. He gave you commands. So, you know, we all been

Chapter 8: The Oil in Your Life

watching the tension between us and Iran. And I call it the conflict in the Middle East. And so, let me be clear. I'm not defending one side or the other. I'm not defending Iran and attack.

I'm not defending Trump and attacking Iran. I'm just showing you what's really going on in the Middle East. So, you have nations positioning themselves around this thing that we call oil. Why? Because oil represents power control and survival.

And so, you got the straight of hermoose, which alone carries a huge portion of the world's oil supply. Right? I think it carries about 20% of the world's oil supply. And for those who don't understand the straight of Hermoose, it's the main highway, right? It's the main shipping lane for oil and it's a narrow passage in the Middle East that sits between Iran and Oman.

And so this is where a huge portion of u our world's oil is being traveled through every single day. So Iran has a lot of influence in this location um because of its location. So when tension rises, Iran has the ability to threaten it by disrupting the passage, by cutting it off. So when your source gets disrupted or cuts off, everything connects to it starts to shake, right? Prices go up, economy becomes unsteady and now people are panicking.

Why? Because everybody's depending on something to keep life running, right? While the world is fighting over oil, thinking this is what sustains life, God is telling us something different. We're not fighting over oil. We're fighting over what controls our heart.

Because whatever you depend on for your peace, whatever you depend on for your security, whatever you depend on for your identity, that's your oil. Most of you trust money, that's your oil. Most of you depend on your jobs, that's your oil. Most of you love your careers over God. That's your oil.

Most of you trust excess, your status, relationships, that's your oil. It's just like the war in the Middle East. So what happens when your supply gets cut off in your life, right? Everything in your life starts to shake because anything you depended on that's not of God was never built was never built to hold you up. So if it cannot So if it if it can be taken away from you, it cannot sustain you.

So when things are falling apart, we start looking for someone to blame. It's their fault. I didn't deserve this. Trust me, I'll let go from a job. But please don't have no pity on me.

I'm not looking for no sympathy cuz I don't want it because I know that Jesus has my back. He takes care of me. He's my provider, right? He sustains me, right? Being let go from the job wasn't what was wasn't in my control.

Like I said, if it can't be taken from you, it was never meant. It was never meant to sustain you. [clears throat] I never bow down to the job I had and I would never bow down to any job that I get. Right? This is what man's been struggling from the beginning of time. What will what will you depend on?

What will you bow down to? Every time you depend on something over God, this is what God calls war. You're living life in disobedient. Have you not yielded your life to to him as Lord, Master, and Savior? What's taking you so long?

Have you not been doing God's will? You may think you're you're not bad off and you may think that you're doing pretty good in life. And this goes for everyone. Just because you're in some sort of ministry role or lead, don't ever think that you're safe. Okay?

I'm never going to think that I'm safe whenever I'm up here preaching his word. Pastor Chris is up here every Sunday feeding the sheep. He's not safe. Not an elder, not a deacon, not anyone in ministry and leadership is safe. You can be serving, you can be preaching, and you can be leading, but you're only one step away from falling.

So you have to be v vigilant, right? The Bible says, "Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." And that is what the Bible says. We don't even know our own hearts. Right? Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

That is the way God sees our hearts, the condition of our hearts. In Proverbs, he who trusts his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it is the spring of issues of life. So make sure you don't lose your focus of your first love because of trials and tribulations, complacency, and thinking that you arrive. You have this arrived mentality, right?

Thinking you arrived. And what that means is you got you think you got all the answers, right? Because in this life, the Bible has told us a man's heart plan plans his ways, but the Lord directs our steps, right? We make plans, but God directs our steps. Expect the unexpected.

So when there there's going to be a time in life when your plans unexpectedly start falling apart, when your security starts to get loose and shaken because losing a job financially, mentally, and physically, you feel like your life is in limbo, and then you kind of it's hard to trust God in those moments when you're done when you're done right, when you're doing everything right, and it still goes wrong. when you've been praying about it so hard and for things that happen, it still didn't work out for you. Especially when your future looks uncertain, it's murky. You can't see what's coming next. And that is why the Bible reminds us to walk by faith and not by sight. God can deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we stay faithful.

Right? So, let me be clear about something. And I'm going to be very clear about something.

Chapter 9: God Is Not Getting You a Job

God is not going to get me a job, and he's not going to get anyone else a job. This is your responsibility to go find work. It's your responsibility to be diligent. God God doesn't just ma magically just drop jobs into our laps because we believe in him. When you come to Christ, God doesn't take away the suffering, the problems, the difficulties of life.

He doesn't promise if you're unemployed that he's going to get you a job tomorrow morning, right? If you accept Jesus Christ today. God didn't promise me or anyone comfort. God didn't promise me or anyone an easy life. God didn't promise anyone it's going to be a smooth road.

God didn't promise success in this world. God didn't promise you wouldn't go through tough times and hardship. God didn't promise anyone he wouldn't lose his job. But he did tell me, "Son, in this world you will face troubles and tribulations because of me." The Bible doesn't say believers might suffer. It says we will suffer.

Everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be be be persecuted. But God does promise he will give you and anyone grace and strength and joy through it all. In Luke, blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast your name as evil for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice and leap for joy when that day comes. So when you're faced with tri um trials and tribulations and you feel people are against you, God says rejoice.

He says get excited. And then he says, "Jump for joy." Yes. Thank you. For he goes on to say, "For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." So rejoice and leave for joy when that day comes, when you're faced with trials and tribulations. same time.

Don't get it twisted because what the world calls suffering, losing a job, which the world calls suffering, which is losing a job, sickness, and disappointment. Yes, those are all real, right? But not the suffering Jesus was talking about. Bible suffering is when suffer when you suffer for righteous sake. When you deny yourself, you carry your cross daily and you live for him.

And so what we go through in life doesn't earn your salvation. Salvation comes through the what? The work of Jesus Christ, right? Not through anything that you have done or anything I have done, any efforts or any good works, anything that you have accomplished. You don't suffer your way to heaven.

You're saved by grace and through faith. Thank you, Jay. The Bible doesn't teach us that faith guarantees jobs, wealth, and success in this world, but it provides and guides. Like I said before, it's your responsibility to go find your to find work. It's your responsibility to be diligent.

Your faith is nothing um is nothing if you don't move. That is faith without works. Right? I'm going to use a business term because today's investment is tomorrow's return. Right?

What you invest today, your time, your discipline, your obedience, and your relationship to Jesus. That is what shows up in your life tomorrow. If you're not investing in Jesus today, don't expect to be uh sustained tomorrow. Whenever whatever a man sws, that's what he will reap. You reap what you invest in.

Right? There are same these are the same principles that applies to our everyday life. Your marriage, your job, your careers, your habits, and your walk with God. But seek first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added to you. Right?

This verse is talking about putting God first. It doesn't mean that you get to sit on your butt just because you believe in him and things are going to just start adding up for you. No, you move with God. Faith by itself, it does not have works, is dead.

Chapter 10: Faith Without Works Is Dead

This is faith with no action behind it. Which means your faith isn't moving. It's not alive. So when you're sitting on your butt all day, guess what? Your your faith is doing sitting on his butt just like you all day long.

Get off your butt and go work for Jesus. Right? You see, when your faith isn't moving, you're not working for Jesus. And so this is when your temptation this is when temptation creeps in. When you're not busy with purpose and you you become available for temptation, time with no purpose is idle time.

Idle time is the devil's workshop. Idol lips is the devil's mouthpiece. So you start entertaining thoughts. Your discipline starts to slip and then comes self- approval. And now you stepped into spiritual complacency justifying sin.

And it's just like David in 2 Samuel during the spring at the time when kings go out to battle. David sent out Joab and his servants and with him all Israel. They went out to destroy sons of Ammon and besiege Rabbi. But guess what David ended up doing? He didn't go with those guys.

He stayed back. So when evening came, he woke up and he walked out to the rooftop of the house and he saw this woman taking a shower and which we all know was Ba Sheeba. So the Bible shows us there's a pattern of sin that begins a start. There's a start, it grows, and then it takes over. And David didn't just fall into sin.

He fell into the pattern of sin. You know, in first John, for all that is in this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the father, but of this world. So what got David at first is he saw it. And this is what the Bible calls the lust. the lust of the eyes. He saw something, he entertained it, which led him to sin.

So when you keep looking at something for so long, what happens? You eventually start wanting it, right? And so the enemy doesn't start with his hands. He starts with your eyes. Then two, now comes the lust of the flesh.

David wanted it. So David, these are David's desires. So he sent out a messenger to go bring and grab um Bashibba and bring her back to the house. So now this is when sin is in motion. So they had sex and then she gets pregnant.

Now the Bible says this is there is a pleasure of joining sin for a season. Yes. When you first sin it feels good for that moment and then you keep sinning and sinning and sinning and next thing you know as time goes on it gets boring, right? Because you know what I mean? Because it's it never lasts.

And then three comes the pride of life. David justified by defending it and living it out, right? because he knew knows what he cuz he knew what he did right instead of repenting and he starts protecting himself justifying thinking I'm king I can handle this I can take care of myself so what he what does he do first he tries to manipulate situation by telling Uriah like go to the house and wash your feet telling him go home and go sleep with with your wife hopefully that he has sex with his wife and so when she when people find out she was pregnant it was because of him but he ends up not going he ends up sleeping at the at the at the sleeping with the at the king's door with the servant. Secondly, he tries again by inviting him over for drinks and food, gets him drunk, but he doesn't go home. [clears throat] And then thirdly, only David trying to find a way to cover up his um his mistake, he sends uh tries to send sends a letter, doesn't try. He gives um Uriah the letter to go take to Joab not knowing he was delivering his own death me um death sentence. So choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of this of sin for a season.

Chapter 11: The Devil Has a Boat Waiting

You see when you start running from God the devil always has a boat waiting for you. And just ask Jonah. And somehow you always seem you always seem you have the money to pay the fair. Once you're on that boat, you feel free. Feels like it's smooth sailing and but it only lasts for a little while.

You might think that you made the right choice and you might think that you you're on the right path, but it never but it's never God's will. So when you're on that boat, there's going to be a rough life. There's going to be dark days and there's going to be darker days and you'll be on the storm constantly in your life. There's a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is the way of death. The path may seem right.

It may feel right. And it may always and it will always lead you away from God justifying your own mind. But it will never be God's will when you're on that boat. But when you suffer in Christ, it confirms that we belong to him. Amen.

You know, at the end of the day, the fire will come, pressure will come. We'll all be put in the same situation where you have chose have to choose just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. They didn't wait until the fire to decide. They had already settled in their hearts. They wouldn't not they wouldn't bow.

And even if God didn't deliver, God is able to deliver. But even if he doesn't move or expect the way we expect him, we still trust him. We still follow him and we still bow down to him. Right? Um so be faithful not just in the easy but when the cost when it cost you everything.

And so I close out if you guys all know the shepherd's prayer. Let's all say it together. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He leads me to green pastures.

He leads me besides the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will feel no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever.

Amen.