“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King."

“BUT IF NOT”! be it known unto thee, O king, that we will NOT serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Daniel 3: 17-18 kjv

There is a story that illustrates the impact that Scripture can have on people. During some of the darkest days of the Second World War, the British Army was trapped at Dunkirk with little possibility of being rescued. A message was sent from the beleaguered army telling of their plight but also of their determination to hold out against the enemy at all costs. The message expressed the hope that they would be rescued but ended with these three words, “but if not.” When the message was relayed back to England and broadcast, it galvanized a host of small boats, including pleasure craft, towboats, ferries, and every imaginable type to head for Dunkirk Harbor in an attempt to evacuate the trapped army. In the outcome over three hundred thousand British and French soldiers were taken off the beach. Although dark days remained as the German military machine continued its advance, the British Army, and indeed Britain itself, had been rescued.

But this poses an interesting question. How could three words make such a dramatic effect on the British people? The words themselves are taken from Daniel, chapter three verse eighteen where the three young men refused to bow down and worship the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They were confident that God could rescue them from the fiery furnace but they also were aware that He might choose not to do so. With full knowledge of what could happen, they determined to resist Nebuchadnezzar’s threatening. By these words, “but if not” they stated their resolve to remain faithful to God. These same three words, used by the British Expeditionary Force, expressed their determination to remain faithful despite overwhelming odds. It was those words that mobilized the force that was responsible for the saving of the British army from certain defeat.

The Word of God has the identical power to transform lives today.