One of my favorite Bible stories is that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (If you aren’t familiar, you should read the whole story in Daniel 3. It is a really good one.) Basically, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar built a giant golden statue and demanded everyone bow down and worship it when the designated musical instruments played. He was a textbook narcissist who didn’t just want the people to adore him; he actually demanded that they all worship at his command. And most people did exactly that. This wasn’t because they actually loved him, but out of fear of being thrown into a blazing furnace.

That’s where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come in. They were in charge of the province of Babylon and devout Jews. They also refused to bow down and worship the statue. When the king found out, he was furious and demanded that they be brought before him. He gave them another chance to bow down, saying that if they refused, they would immediately be thrown into the blazing furnace.

He asked, “And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” Their response is one of the best examples of faith that I’ve ever heard:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

Did you catch that? They knew that God could and would rescue them. But they also knew that it might not be in the exact way they wanted. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made it clear to the king that even if God didn’t keep them away from the flames, they were still going to their excruciating death following him.

Wow! What faith! Their faith was strong enough that even if God didn’t save their lives right then, they knew that they were still better off.

Do you have that kind of faith? I can’t say I always have it. There are times out of fear, or insecurity, or just plain stupidity, that I let my lack of faith get in the way of doing what I am supposed to do. Never have my stakes been as high as a blazing furnace. Usually, my fear of failure and vulnerability is what stands in the way.

The process of adopting from China is a giant leap of faith. It has already stretched me and tested my faith. We have no idea what needs our child will have and whether we will be equipped to handle them. We have no control over the process or timing. And we have no idea where the tens of thousands of dollars that we need just to bring our child home will come from.

Shortly after we decided to move forward with this process, the Sunday message at church was on my boys Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was exactly the reminder I needed to have faith that God could and would take care of every detail of the adoption. He will provide the funding for this. But even if he doesn’t, I am not going to give up on bringing our child home.

If you don’t know how the story ends, Shadrach, Mechach, and Abednego were thrown into that blazing furnace. Nebuchadnezzar even had it heated up seven times hotter than normal. But not a hair on their heads was singed and they walked out of that fire. Then the very king who threw them in worshipped their God. That same God cared about the details of their lives, he cares about the details of my life, and he cares about the details of yours. Our family trusts that where God calls us, he will provide.

Have you taken a big leap of faith? I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comments below!

Our two-year-old daughter is now home, and we did raise all the money we needed for the adoption. (Read about that in Eight Ways We Raised $35,123.51 for Our Adoption Without Debt.) Download a free copy of 101 Adoption Fundraising Ideas here. You can find more posts about our adoption journey here.