Some Like it Hot – Some NOT!

Remember those fire-walking and fire-praising guys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Bible? We may feel like we’ve experienced an inferno of suffering this year, but nothing compared to the fiery furnace those guys lived through. They wouldn’t cower to King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bow to his golden statue which enraged the king. So they were punished by being thrown into a burning fiery furnace that was amped up seven times hotter than a normal fire. But what did they receive for their faith and steadfastness in the belief of their one, true God? It says in Daniel 3, that “the hair of their heads was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” The bonus was King Neb blessing the God of those brave men, and promoting them to govern Babylon. This is a story of what complete trust in God looks like -- no matter the intimidation and lies of the enemy. It is a story of God’s amazing grace – to not only keep them (and us) from fiery death, but of the rewards that come from total dependence on God. They pointed King Neb to God. When you and I trust God despite our suffering, we’ll also point unbelievers to Him, too. So, let’s take a test to see how we’ve faired during the testing of our faith during the last eight months. By the way we handled our inconvenience, our stress, our pain, and concerns, was it a great witness to the world of our faith and trust in our Father? Frankly, you and I don’t measure up as great witnesses for God when life is good. Anyone can serve God during those times. But tough times are a different story. Those three Hebrew guys were Daniel’s friends who faced certain death by defying the king’s commands. But they trusted God and He rescued them in a miraculous way. They impressed the king with their faith and fiery determination. So, I pose this question to you and me today “What are we willing to die for?” If we don’t know what we’re willing to die for, we’ll never truly live. We’ll only exist. Here we are thousands of years later talking about those brave Hebrew men. They faced the heat and conquered. Without the heat, we wouldn’t know this story. The same is true with us. Sometimes God brings new life to others because we trusted Him through the fires in our lives. Sometimes we are drawn closer to God when we see other people’s responses to the fires they’ve gone through. I, for one, know that I speak to you, my dear friends, because of the fires of tough times in my life – those that I prevailed through because God was with me – just like He was with those three Hebrew guys. And you, too, will prevail if you invite God to be with you during your times of fiery trials! Keep the Holy Spirit fire extinguisher close at hand and you’ll prevail with a testimony of coming out of our fiery trials with not a hair singed and not even smelling like smoke!