Even if...

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." ~Daniel 3: 16-18

This week, I (and thousands of others) have been praying for a godly woman named Joanne. She is a wife, a mother of two daughters, a woman's ministry leader, author, and more. She only 38 years old, and her daughter found her seizing and unresponsive. She had a massive stroke, and despite immediate treatment, surgery, and additional surgery to remove part of her skull to allow room for her brain's swelling, she is in critical condition still today. She has not woken up yet, and just this hour her husband has reported that she has a fever and her heart rate and bp are not where they should be.

Thousands of us around the world have been keeping up a prayer vigil for this dear one. Praying for total healing, for protection, for her daughters' emotional well-being, for her husband's strength and comfort, for her friends and family who are devastated this week.

God alone knows if she will make it through this. HE alone knows what her physical condition will be tonight, tomorrow, a week from now, a year from now, 10 years from now. We are praying fervently for her healing. We are claiming His promises that He will heal, that the prayers of godly men bring healing to the sick.

But my mind today keeps drifting back to Daniel. When the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was about to throw these three Hebrews into the furnace for refusing to worship the idol he set up, their answer was this: Our God can save us. But even if He doesn't, we still will serve Him.

Even if.

God can heal. He does heal. We beg Him to heal. But even if He doesn't, we will still worship Him, serve Him, love Him.

I beg you, Lord, to bring healing and restoration to Joanne and her family. And teach all of to live according to your ways even if...