the fiery furnace
17 "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. 18 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."
Daniel 3:17-18
We've all heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (yep, I had to look those up to check the spelling... you know me!) in the fiery furnace. (On a side note... I bet you used to say "Abend-ago" like me haha). Here's a refresher if you don't remember the story: Because they believed in only one God and wouldn't bow to him, King Nebuchadnezzar had his bodyguards (my words of course) throw the 3 guys in a furnace to be burned. Toasty! Right? ... Nope.
But they were not at all worried... see the verse at the top... they said, "We know our God will bring us out unscathed... but even if He doesn't we will still not lose our faith in Him." WOW. What faith. Now, I know we don't have rulers throwing us in furnaces for our beliefs (although I do believe we are not far from it, the way things are going... but anyway).
However, what I do know is that we face a "fiery furnace" every day. It's called the world. Some people's furnaces are a little hotter than others. Ours (mine & Justin's) has been a hot one - certainly not the HOTTEST, but hot still!! It's been really hard to give in and say OK, OK, we bow down, we bow down! Just to avoid the heat. And I'll say that many times we probably did give in.
This story of the 3 guys in the fiery furnace makes me realize that their faith was truly FEARLESS. They said, even if God never shows up, we will still trust in Him. Kind of like Job. Go and read about him... very cool story. Anyway, my point to this ramble is this - are we willing to take the heat, and #1 have enough faith to say that God will come through, and #2, to stand our ground even if it looks like He isn't? Wouldn't it have been relatively easy for them to say, "Our God will rescue us" when they weren't in the furnace? But see how God let them be thrown in! He didn't save them from the furnace. He just showed up. In the midst of the heat, the trial, the terrible-ness.
And because of their faith - even in the fire - the King himself came to know God that day. If they hadn't had gone through the fire, others would not have been saved. And I am so thankful that through our trials, God has used us to bring others to Himself. Truly, I had a conversation with someone the other day who a year ago saw our trials, saw our peace & joy, and wanted to know more... she came to know Christ through our fiery furnace. I think it's worth it. I truly hope the Lord will continue to use us, our blog, our lives, our trials ... to bring others to Him.
Daniel 3:17-18
We've all heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (yep, I had to look those up to check the spelling... you know me!) in the fiery furnace. (On a side note... I bet you used to say "Abend-ago" like me haha). Here's a refresher if you don't remember the story: Because they believed in only one God and wouldn't bow to him, King Nebuchadnezzar had his bodyguards (my words of course) throw the 3 guys in a furnace to be burned. Toasty! Right? ... Nope.
But they were not at all worried... see the verse at the top... they said, "We know our God will bring us out unscathed... but even if He doesn't we will still not lose our faith in Him." WOW. What faith. Now, I know we don't have rulers throwing us in furnaces for our beliefs (although I do believe we are not far from it, the way things are going... but anyway).
However, what I do know is that we face a "fiery furnace" every day. It's called the world. Some people's furnaces are a little hotter than others. Ours (mine & Justin's) has been a hot one - certainly not the HOTTEST, but hot still!! It's been really hard to give in and say OK, OK, we bow down, we bow down! Just to avoid the heat. And I'll say that many times we probably did give in.
This story of the 3 guys in the fiery furnace makes me realize that their faith was truly FEARLESS. They said, even if God never shows up, we will still trust in Him. Kind of like Job. Go and read about him... very cool story. Anyway, my point to this ramble is this - are we willing to take the heat, and #1 have enough faith to say that God will come through, and #2, to stand our ground even if it looks like He isn't? Wouldn't it have been relatively easy for them to say, "Our God will rescue us" when they weren't in the furnace? But see how God let them be thrown in! He didn't save them from the furnace. He just showed up. In the midst of the heat, the trial, the terrible-ness.
And because of their faith - even in the fire - the King himself came to know God that day. If they hadn't had gone through the fire, others would not have been saved. And I am so thankful that through our trials, God has used us to bring others to Himself. Truly, I had a conversation with someone the other day who a year ago saw our trials, saw our peace & joy, and wanted to know more... she came to know Christ through our fiery furnace. I think it's worth it. I truly hope the Lord will continue to use us, our blog, our lives, our trials ... to bring others to Him.
That is a great prayer, Tara. I pray daily that God would use my circumstances, my life, my blog, etc. to reach others.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I fail, but He ALWAYS gets the glory!
Praying for you!
Christie