In Honor of Michael T. Burgess

God is Able
But Even If



“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.
But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3: 17-18

MercyMe’s “Even If”

God is able…

Sometimes we may wonder how to apply God’s Word in our own lives. Maybe we’ve read a passage or heard it preached many times. Maybe we even heard a particular popular Bible story as children.

Perhaps listening to and applying God’s word is about timing, perspective and what’s going on in our lives and hearts at that moment. Conceivably, how, or even if a Bible verse impacts us has everything to do with the readiness of our hearts; the application and meaning can be straightforward or implicit. Sometimes it reaches deep and it’s a moment of understanding, God’s spirit drilling down into our innermost being. That deep sense that God is speaking and we are listening.

I will remember with awe, the evening my husband’s friend Dave Osborn stopped by our home. Dave had come beside Michael, frequently encouraging him through notes, calls, texts and emails while praying for him regularly as Michael’s battle against cancer raged on. This particular evening was the first I heard of their conversation and how God was revealing himself to Michael through the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, applying this faith story from Daniel 3 to his own life.

– Colette Burgess

Even if..

One afternoon, Mike was sharing about a sermon from Daniel 3 that we had both heard months before, and which later became his testimony. He shared how he was facing his battle with cancer, and how after a recent metastatic stage IV diagnosis, he applied that passage from Daniel he said,

“I know that God is able to heal me from cancer, But even if He does not, I am good with that and it does not change who God is.”

Even though I did not remember that sermon, somehow when a man who is staring his own mortality in the face relates the same Biblical incident, it has greater impact. This moment changed my life. I was so moved that I created a sticker (giving one to Mike) and placed it on my car as a daily reminder to trust God and His perfect plan -believing, trusting and knowing that God is able…but even if.

Mike didn’t live to experience on earth what he knew that God was able to do. But he passed into eternity with a far greater reward for having the faith to trust God “even if.”

– Dave Osborn (Dear friend of Mike)