"For my Unconquerable Soul"

Daniel 3:16-18 "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""

This is right before they get thrown in the fire.

This past year I find myself seeing God in a new way. It seems that almost every time I read the Bible I see God having an attitude, or men of God having an attitude. I feel a deep need for this attitude. I was reading Daniel and verse 18 jumped out at me"But even if he does not, we want you to know". I yearn for such a conviction in my life. Not to just piss people off, but to stand up for whats right, to stand for truth. Not because that is what God wants, but because it is masculine. To stand and to defend. To get in the face of an advisory, and be stubborn with a conviction, even if your conviction proves to be wrong, that is besides the point. Fight and never get an inch. This verse reminded me of a poem that I hold dear, and constantly think of.

Invictus
by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

"O'Lord open my conviction to the world, not that can show off, but that I may stand. Thank you Father for the attitude that you have given me. Thank you for my unconquerable soul".