Hi how are you all today? I am well and have had a bit of a stressful week. But it is in those times that I really cry out to God for His help as I know I can’t do it and solve it on my own. Sometimes, He gives me the answers but often times it is a matter of just trusting Him and walking through step by step. It is in these times that peace becomes your umpire as you can feel when you are going on the right path. How do you handle these times in your life?
So because of this, I decided to blog about how we can go through the fire well. Notice I didn’t say camp in the fire. Because no matter what it looks like for you now, this situation will pass.
The best story in the Bible about going through a fire is when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were actually thrown in one.
The story is found in Daniel 3. The back story is that the king of their pagan nation that they were living in under captivity had a dream. The dream was interpreted by Daniel and the dream was that the king had seen an image. He was the gold part in the image (the image in the dream was not all gold). Because of this the king decided to build an actual image made totally of gold to represent his amazing kingdom.
The day came for it to be unveiled and it was a requirement that everyone had to bow down to it. Oh no! Who knows that for the Jews living in the nation this was a big no no? If they bowed to this image then they would be breaking one of the commandments of God as set out in Exodus 20.
Verse 4 states:
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worshipthem; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
So, as the Jews were in captivity in this nation, they should all have been standing when the king gave the command to bow down. This is not what happened as they were all scared. Only three remained standing. The men spoken of above.
Often when we go through the fire, it is our standing up for what is right and Godly that puts us there. For me, it was honouring the direction of my leaders.
But not everyone will agree with your stance on a matter or your beliefs in the Word of God. This can land us in the fire.
The king offered the three men a way out – a second chance but I love what they said in Daniel 3:
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliverus[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 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.”
Let’s look at the things that these men told the king.
1. We do not need to defend ourselves. How often do we do this? We defend ourselves by explaining the reason for our stance or beliefs. If we are following God and doing His will in the matter, He will defend us. What will this look like? It will be different for each situation we find ourselves in. My only advice is keep our eyes on God. He will reveal it to us if we are looking to Him.
2. God will deliver us. It is God Who is our defender and deliverer.
3. But if God doesn’t, we will still obey Him. My question is- have I, have you determined in our hearts that we will obey God no matter what the cost is. It states in 1 Samuel that obedience is better than sacrifice. God will be on our side if we obey. Will it be easy? No but it will be worth it.
What happened to these men? They were thrown in the fire and God was with them. How do we know? The king saw four men in the fire and not three.
The king took them out of the fire and the best part is that these three men and their clothes were not affected by the fire at all. The king worshipped God.
Going through the fire can be painful at times especially when we have done the right thing. But God will protect us in the fire and when we come through it, we won’t be affected negatively from it. We will come through with a greater trust in God and a greater knowing that God is with us.
Bless you heaps and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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