"But If Not..."

On Sunday, we will be discussing Elder Dennis E. Simmons' talk from April 2004 General Conference, "But If Not...". Elder Simmons reminds us of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego's refusal to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol. He teaches that when Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace, furiously demanding, "And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" (Daniel 3:15):

The three young men quickly and confidently responded, "If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand." ... But then they demonstrated that they fully understood what faith is. They continued, "But if not, ... we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18, emphasis added). That is a statement of true faith.

What is true faith? Do we have this kind of faith in God? Do we trust Him, even when things don't turn out the way we hope they will, or think they should? On Sunday we will discuss true faith and what we can do to develop it, so that when we face challenges, we are able to say, "Our God will deliver us, but if not ... we will trust in the Lord."