When It’s Your Turn In The Fire

 

No one chooses it. But sometimes you can’t escape it. When you are backed in a corner and the only way out is……..through.

That’s the fiery trial of Daniel 3:1-30 that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego experienced, as exiles in the foreign land of Babylon. Under the conquering King Nebuchadnezzar, these three men from Judah found themselves where they did NOT want to be.

God had rebuked His nation because of their idolatry toward Him and injustice toward one another. He had warned them time and time again, calling for their repentance and commitment repeatedly over many years. The people continued in their sin as they ignored His warnings.  Finally, the day had come for His judgment to be poured out upon the nation of Judah.

God sent a foreign king from a distant land to conquer Judah and take it’s people off into captivity. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord explicitly explained what was going to happen as a result of their sinful, rebellious ways. Jeremiah 5:19 says,

And when the people ask, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’ 

Not all the people of Judah were unfaithful though, but as often happens, consequences are still far reaching. Therefore, some of the exiles were men and women of faith who still tried to honor God with their obedience, even as they lived as exiles in Babylon. Such were the three men who found themselves in conflict with an edict handed down by a foreign king. Submission to this edict was encouraged by the threat of being thrown into a blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey the edict, which demanded allegiance and worship to Nebuchadnezzar ‘s image of gold he had created. This infuriated the king, so much so that he heated the furnace seven times hotter in preparation for these three men.

After questioning them to see if they would buckle under the pressure of losing their lives in a fiery furnace, the men remained steadfast in their refusal to worship the image of gold. They courageously replied in Daniel 3:16-18,

O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Not surprisingly, the king had them bound and thrown into the furnace, which was so hot that it killed the guards who took them up for their execution. So there they were, backed into a corner and the only way out was through…….

God had not rescued them from this moment, even after their courageous stand. But my friends, He had prepared them!!

What those men needed in order to forge through their fiery trial had already been given them AND was ALSO waiting for them! God had compassionately given His Word to His people in order to draw them to Himself and equip them for what they would need in life, no matter what would be required of them. His Word gives truth, power and perspective that is life-giving and life-sustaining. In and of themselves, they did not have what it took to be that steadfast. It was God working in them and through them that made the difference, giving them the faith and boldness necessary to step forward into their fiery trial.

God does not just command that we hold tight to His Word for ego’s sake. He knows what it will do for us, how it will change us and grow us. But He does not stop there. He also meets us in the fiery trials we have to go through!

Verse 24-25 says that the King leaped to his feet in amazement, asking if there were only three men tied  up and thrown into the fire. He goes on to say,

Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

That was the Lord Himself, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, who was waiting for them in their fire. He gave them His Word to prepare them in advance and now He was granting His presence in the midst of their trial. His Word had already prepared them to know He would be with them as He had promised in Isaiah 43:1-13, as they walked through their fire. And He was!!

With His Word in their hearts and His Presence by their side, they could walk through together! 

Friends, what has you backed into a corner? What are you having to walk through? Whether it is infertility, depression, singleness, or maybe even weariness from a unfulfilled desire of your heart, sometimes getting through just seems impossible.

In this life, we don’t always pick our circumstances. Sometimes they pick us, and all we are left to do is respond. I can testify of how God equipped me to walk through my own fire. I was at work in 2013 when I received some devastating news, while I was already experiencing a tremendous amount of turmoil. I remember gripping the counter in the back office to steady myself. I began to remember what I knew was true from the Bible about God and His character. I recalled words from Jesus that were life-sustaining, such as how He said in Him I would have peace and that in this world, I would have trouble but to take heart, He had overcome the world (John 16:33).

Scripture after Scripture flowed into my mind through the work of the Holy Spirit bringing it back to me. But that came from all those times I had already been in the Word for myself. I also remembered that He had said He was always with me. So I knew, at that most devastating moment, what I needed to know and posses in order to walk through the fiery trial that lay ahead of me.

Whatever has you backed into a corner, where you know the only way out is through, God is able to meet you there. Through the ministry of His powerful Word and the presence of His precious Son, He can walk you through your fire too!