Have you ever felt stuck in the midst of suffering? Or faced a circumstance and wondered, “How can I ever move forward?” I certainly have. During seasons like this, my husband and I find comfort in Daniel 3. I have always thought this passage was powerful, but in the midst of dark and difficult days, God showed us something new.
So let me pick up the story in Daniel 3:24-25:
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’
They replied, ‘Certainly, Your Majesty.’
He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’”
Now there is plenty to learn from this passage—not the least of which is that although the fire did not harm the three men, the fire did burn off the ropes that bound them. And, of course, no one can miss that fourth person, right?
Amazingly, most scholars agree that the man who appeared alongside Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was an Old Testament appearance of Christ.
But the thing I had always missed—the insight that caught me for the very first time—was that they were “walking around in the fire.”
And that’s what really speaks to me.
Trust God To Work
Whatever affliction, whatever fiery trial God might put me through, I can be sure that the particular sin that had bound me before the affliction, will, by His grace, be burned away in the midst of it—done away with in God’s eyes.
God faithfully uses painful circumstances to expose my sin and destroy it.
Like the ropes that bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God faithfully uses painful circumstances to expose my sin and destroy it. His refining fire is strong enough to break the bonds of fear, insecurity, doubt, anxiety, addiction, or anger, before those painful sins break us.
Look Expectantly For Jesus
What God shows us through this passage is that Jesus will be with me in the middle of the trial. Jesus does not stand outside the furnace, cheering me on and telling me to hang in there. This lesson in Daniel teaches us that Jesus goes through the fiery ordeal alongside us; in the midst of the suffering, He is right there!
Step Toward the Savior
And finally, there’s this curious picture of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking in the midst of the fire.
Too often, we believe that an awful affliction must stop us dead in our tracks. It derails us. It brings everything to a halt and impedes us from going further. Too often we try to stand still, waiting until the trial passes so we can get back to life as normal.
That’s not the way it goes for the Christian. A trial does not bring everything to a standstill until we can wrench free of it and be on our way. A trial is one of the streets through which we move into our destiny. A trial is a pathway on which we walk closer to the finish line. A trial is a road that leads us deeper into the heart of Christ. It’s not something to escape. It’s not a puzzle to quickly solve so we can get back on track. It’s not a detour; it’s the main road. The main thing. It is the main path. We don’t stand still in the midst of a fiery trial; we are called to walk through it.
We don’t stand still in the midst of a fiery trial; we are called to walk through it.
The comfort of Christ’s revelation is not that it teaches us emancipation from sorrow, but emancipation through sorrow.
It was George Matheson who said:
“‘The road is too rough,’ I said; ‘It is uphill all the way;
No flowers, but thorns instead;
And the skies over head are grey.’
But One took my hand at the entrance dim,
And sweet is the road that I walk with him.
Then why do we fret and sigh;
Cross-bearers all we go:
But the road ends by-and-by
In the dearest place we know,
And every step in the journey we
May take in the Lord’s own company.”
Remember that today. When you struggle to move forward, never forget that the Lord walks with you in the midst of the fire. And when He does, the world will stand amazed–not by your strength, but by the strength of the One who breaks our bonds and ultimately sets us free. So, take courage and…walk on.