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.