The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:2 NIV

Suffering happens to everyone, even the sinner and the saint, and it was endured by the Savior. Suffering came into the world because of sin. Satan used sin to bring suffering; however, God used the suffering of Jesus to bring salvation to mankind. God, through our suffering, purifies our faith and glorifies his name. 

Faith in God does not make us immune to suffering. Sometimes, we are delivered from a fiery furnace; other times God makes us fireproof. We have to have faith in God’s power to deliver us from sickness, suffering, and pain. Our faith cannot be in healing but in the Healer. We have to rest our faith in God not in answers to our prayers.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had faith that God was able to deliver them and that he would deliver them. Faith allows us to believe that God is able and that God will. “But if not” faith is faith that is in God even if we do not get what we pray for, even if things do not turn out as we expect them to turn out. “But if not” faith says, “I will continue to worship God even if things do not turn out as I hoped for.” 

Many people have faith in things but not in God. They believe in healing. They believe in miracles. They believe in answers to prayers. That kind of faith fails when those miracles do not come. The Apostle Paul had faith. When he was suffering, he said, “I know whom I have believed.” For Paul, faith was not just something he believed in, it was Someone he believed in. Our faith is not in faith itself, but our faith is in God himself.