“Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [looked and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men who were tied up into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” He answered, “Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out [of there]! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.
Daniel 3:24-27 (AMP)
I hated this story for a hot minute once upon a time. I read until the king saw the fourth man in the fire, shut my Bible and gently tossed it aside. I can remember crying and praying, “G-d, I don’t want to be the one in the midst of the fire with You, I didn’t ask to walk through this and I surly don’t want to do it with You”. At that point I completely disregarded the faithfulness of this story AND even the end of the sentence that I was reading, “and they are not hurt!”.
Nothing looked as big to me as the flames that I was facing – they were seven times hotter, higher and more lethal than ever and I wasn’t having any of it.
But, G-d is a redeeming father. He not only redeems my thoughts but my time as well. The trials always end and I start to realize that even in the moments where I tried to push Him away, He never left me. He is still the one standing with me when it seems impossible to walk away alive, and yet, not even the essence of what I’ve been through can touch who I truly am WITH Him.
Not even the smell of smoke was on the men.
Lately at church we’ve been singing the new Young & Free song, When the Fight Calls the bridge lyrics are:
I won’t let the storm weather my heart
Won’t let the darkness beat me down
Sing in the night my hope alive in You
I’ll walk through the fire and not be burned
Pray in the fight and watch it turn
Jesus tonight I give it all to You
These play over and over in my head whether the song is on or not. I’m reminded of the times I didn’t want to see the journey with Jesus. I sometimes try to pad my attitude and language towards G-d but even this week writing out some of my frustrations, I realized how ridiculous I was being and how dumb my words sounded towards the creator of heaven and earth and the provider of everything I need. But I felt a nudge, I felt a question in my heart asking me if I was going to leave that hurtful and ridiculous sentence out because I felt I had to protect the Lord, or if I was going to be honest with Him and myself. I reminded G-d of the times in the past that I didn’t want to face something with Him – and HE reminded me in turn of His faithfulness.
They are not hurt.
He has actually never allowed my test or trials to consume me or harm me. He HAS allowed me to learn to trust Him and maybe even tarry in the fire sometimes.
The men in our story were walking around in the midst of the fire for a few reasons:
1) I assume the furnace was sealed shut and they couldn’t just waltz out
2) They had to be there long enough for the king to notice that something was different
3) G-d had to be made known
Story Time With Laina 