But if not...

Chapter 3 of Daniel finds Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tossed into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worshop a Babylonian pagan idol. Prior to being put in the furnace, they explain to the Babylonian king that God will save them (Daniel 3:17, KJV),

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.

But they don't stop there. They continue in the next verse (18), which has become famous,

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.

This is fascinating. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego essentially state that God is perfectly capable of saving them, but he is not obligated to do so. And, crucially, even if God doesn't save them, they still refuse to disobey God's commandments.

Simply, we are commanded to believe and obey. We cannot expect individual rewards for doing what we're already supposed to be doing. Jesus touched upon this theme (Luke 17:10, KJV),

When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Achieving that mentality displayed by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not easy. But that's the level of faith that God wants from us.

Why does God care about us?

If God created the infinite expanse of the entire universe, then how, and why, would he possibly care about each of us on an individual level. This is a very obvious, and frequent, concern for anyone taking a journey through faith. And it's by no means a new concern. Indeed, David, himself, struggled with this (Psalm 8:4, KJV),

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Again, David says (Psalm 62:9, KJV),

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

So why does God care about us on an individual level? Truth is, the bible never provides a complete answer, but from the front cover to the back cover, God is constantly trying to communicate that he does care. Genesis 2:7 (KJV), describes God's physical and intimate involvement in our existence,

The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And that theme continues throughout the bible.  In Jeremiah 23:23 (KJV), God says,

I am God at hand ... and not a God afar off.

So let's not get lost in philosophical arguments about whether God pays attention to us. The bible emphasizes repeatedly that he does. Let's accept that closeness, and take comfort in it. As God says in Isaiah 43:2 (KJV),

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Yet they were not afraid

The bible repeatedly commands that we should "fear" God, which might seem like a strange, even uncomfortable, concept. The idea is that we are all sinners (Psalm 14:3, KJV),

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

But God has not punished us as we deserve (Psalm 103:10, KJV),

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

We should there be thankful to God, but with a "fearful" attitude, realizing that we deserve much worse (Psalm 2:11, KJV)

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

For the exact opposite attitude, turn to Jeremiah 36, which finds the king deliberately burning an early draft of Jeremiah's warnings. Despite such egregious behavior on the part of the king (Jeremiah, 36:24, KJV),

They were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.

Yikes! Let's not mimic that behavior. Rather, let us pray for forgiveness with a fearful attitude.