Trust When It’s All on the Line

BY Ellen L. Taylor

Even if not, He is still good.

I’ve seen that phrase everywhere—all over the Internet, on Pinterest boards, college dorm room walls, coffee mugs. It’s used time and time again to remind us that God is still good in the midst of trials and pain and suffering.

But is He?

I don’t believe in the prosperity gospel, the lie that tells us if we believe in God enough and work hard enough to somehow live lives worthy of His love, then He will lavish upon us riches and good fortune. But I do believe that every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). I believe Scripture teaches us that God’s good plan—the one He’s written from the beginning of time—ultimately ends with an eternal kingdom of no tears, no death, no pain, where all things are made new (Revelation 21–22).

But is God still good here and now, when everything in life seems unstable? Is He good when all you thought you knew is ripped out from under you? Is He good when the diagnosis is grim, when the suffering won’t stop, when the uncertainty lingers? Is God still good when everything in life feels broken and nothing is going the way it should?

He is. We don’t have to understand it to know that it’s true (Hebrews 11:1).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were real-life examples of living out that Pinterest-worthy saying: Even if not, He is still good. They risked their lives for their faith by refusing to bow before anyone or anything but God. In doing so, they brought Him glory. And when pushed on the matter by the king, they simply said, “If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us… But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up” (Daniel 3:17–18).

Their faith in God’s provision and protection was so strong that they were willing to walk into the flames, believing that He would save them. And they were confident in their decision because of their dedication to their God—even if He chose not to rescue them from the fire.

The same is true for us. No matter the circumstances that come our way, when we walk through the pain and trials of life, this truth remains: we are still His, and He is still ours (Isaiah 43:2). And He is still good.

What came of those three young men? A king was humbled, and the eyes of an entire kingdom were directed away from their false gods to the glory of the one true God. All because three powerless people said, “Even if not, He is still good.”

Ellen Taylor was born and raised in sweet home Alabama, but has called Nashville home since 2013. When she’s not working as an associate editor at She Reads Truth, you can find her enjoying good food and good conversation with her friends and family. She is a lover of cozy sweaters, ugly dogs, and the Oxford comma.