“King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon... Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:1,4-6) In 2019 we don’t worship things made of wood or gold. These days it’s fashion, money, fame, relationships, sex, the next big thing... you name it and we worship it. Whatever the world tells us we need, become our idols. We worship things that give us momentary satisfaction; but they are nothing but empty promises. But wether we are talking about bible times or a time more current, we all have this in common: We worship the created over the creator, day after day after day. This is what was happening in the book of Daniel chapter 3; and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t having it.
Scripture says this: “Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.” (Daniel 3:14-17) First of all... can we talk about how BAD ASS those three are?? Not even a kings so called “death” threat was enough to shake them. I can imagine this sort of “go ahead, throw us in! Good luck!” type attitude from them. The Bible says that Nebuchadnezzar was so angry that his face became “distorted with rage”. He turned the fires up to be so hot that the guards throwing them into the furnace were killed instantly from the flames. Still they persisted; and still they trusted.
I’ll be honest, I love a good “Jesus saves the day” heroic story from the Bible; but I can never help but wonder in situations like this, how much easier.... and safe.... it would have been to just change the mind of the King. Why put them through the fire, only to have them still alive in the end? Recently my dad almost died in a fire himself. So today when I pulled up my Bible app, I was rolling my eyes at God when I saw that the reading in my bible plan today was this story in Daniel. I have had enough fire stories this week. So the “irony” in it wasn’t impressing me. But I’m pretty certain He did that on purpose. God had a lesson and few reminders for my now amped up anxious heart.
In case you didn’t know - Just this past week while driving to work my dads van started doing strange things, and eventually the entire inside started to fill with smoke. Moments... as in seconds... after he got out of his van, the entire vehicle burst into flames. No, my dad didn’t die. Yes, my dad got out unharmed. This is a story of exciting escape! A life spared! And yet, no one is rejoicing over the event. The only thing to praise is that he is okay. No one is praising the event itself. No one wants to be driving down the street in a vehicle that is filing up with smoke; unlocking doors, rolling down windows, and unbuckling their seat belt as a way to prepare for a quick escape. He was scared. No one wants to be chained up and thrown into a fiery furnace. So why do it? Why does God allow these scary life threatening situations to happen if He knows how the ending goes? I’m not talking about changing the endings of stories. I’m talking about the middle. Why even allow the pain when the end game is life and victory? We think like that don’t we? In our own lives? I know I do.
I have learned the hard way what the answer to those questions are though. God allows those things to still happen because between that moment of sudden conflict and the end of the story, is where the real change can happen. It’s when our faith and fear come colliding together. It’s in the pain that we see a greater purpose to our ending appear. My dad walked out of that day safe and alive just as he does everyday. But that day, it meant more. My dads story cannot be compared to a bible story of attempted execution and God visibly showing up in a literal fire; but it gave me a renewed perspective on this story when I read it today. It reminded me that the middle of the story always matters. Sometimes we hate the middle; because sometimes the middle is filled with uncertainty and chaos. However, the middle gives perspective to the ending. A painful day, event, or season, can bring us to our knees and remind us who has been there with us all along.
“But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied. “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” (Daniel 3:24-25)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace only to be amazed that the Lord himself was standing there among them. In the same way, when life throws us into the furnace, look around. All too often we just want God to change our situation, when God is trying to change US. God doesn’t always take us up out of the flames, because He wants to be with us IN IT. He wants to be with us THROUGH it. He didn’t take the Israelites AROUND the Red Sea, or make it momentarily disappear, He took them THROUGH. So sometimes He wants to take us through things too. When then pain gives us perspective on the purpose.. and then God shows up? Consider yourself chosen. God keeps us where we are when he’s got something up his sleeve. He’s using us for His purposes; our hardships for His healing. If you want the rainbow, then you’d better welcome the rain.
So stand up, and look around you. There’s a fourth man in the fire! Take off those chains and walk around that fire proud and protected. Because no fire is too hot for MY King.
