Tested Faith

The devil will try and tempt us in order to destroy our faith, but God will test us in order to develop our faith because a faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. A false faith withers in times of trials in our life, but true faith takes a deeper root, grows, and brings glory to God. This explains why God permitted the three Hebrew men in (Daniel 3) to be tested and then thrown into that fiery furnace. Peter must have been well acquainted with the Book of Daniel because he used the metaphor of the fiery trial when he warned his readers of the persecutions about to come to the church in (1Peter 1:7)(4:12). The experience of these three men helps us today to examine our own faith and determine whether we have the kind of faith that can be tested and bring glory to God. 
These three men were men of faith but not men of presumption. Had they affirmed that God would deliver them, that would have been presumptuous, because they didn’t know what God had willed for their situation. Instead, they stated that their God was able to deliver them, but even if He didn’t they still wouldn’t bow down before the king’s image. 
People will make all kinds of promises to God so they can persuade Him to heal them or change their circumstances. But this isn’t believing in God, it’s bargaining with God. True faith confesses the Lord and obeys Him regardless of the consequences.