Come, Stand With Us

Do you have a favorite Bible story? I'm not talking about Noah's Ark or Jonah and the Big Fish, though those are fine recollections from history that teach us about God's faithfulness. 

I'm talking, more along the lines of a story that has traveled through life with you. One that's accompanied you through trial after trial. A story you feel you've lived out physically, emotionally and mentally over and over-one you relate to so thoroughly that you feel the story is really yours, on lend to the characters who actually portray it in Scripture. Your story. 

Perhaps my favorite Scripture of all time is the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel. 

There was a great and powerful king, Nebuchadnezzar who had built an image of gold and ordinated that whenever this music was played, everyone was to bow down and worship the carven image. The repercussions of not doing so were fatal-death by blazing furnace. That should be pretty convincing. 

Only one problem-it wasn't. At least not to three men who served their God so faithfully, that they simply refused to bow down to the image of gold.

Scripture tells us in verse 13 of Daniel 3 that Nebuchadnezzar was furious with rage about this and summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to him. Surely, this was a mistake he must have thought. So he reminded the three men of their certain death in a flaming fire if they continued to refuse to worship his golden image. 

The three stood steadfast in their faith. Refusing to defend themselves and holding fast to their bold choice, they essentially told the king to throw them in the fire. They were confident that God would save them, but added on (and I love this part because it shows such humanness in them) that even if He does not, they still would not worship the image Nebuchadnezzar had demanded. 

The king is so beyond angry at this point. He called for the furnace to be turned up to seven times it's normal heat and commanded his strongest soldiers to bound up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them in the fire. So now, not only have these men agreed to a death sentence for the sake of only worshipping the One true God, but they can't even shake their arms in the burning fire, or tremble as they writhe in pain. Tied up. They are completely defenseless and tossed into what certainly had to be the most difficult circumstances they had faced in their lives. At any point, they knew the escape route would be easy. A quick fall to the ground to proclaim praises to a statue of gold and they'd be spared the pain and agony of being thrown into a fire. 

But they didn't even consider it. At least, not that scripture records. 

They were thrown into the fire, and as they were, the strong soldiers who flung them were instantly turned to ashes, burned alive from just the heat of the fire. 

What happened next was amazing. The ties that bound up the three men fell to the ground, and they walked freely through the fire unharmed, undefeated and suddenly accompanied by a fourth companion. A Savior. Surely they felt the heat blazing against their skin. Likely they smelled the unbearable scent of the burning flesh of the soldiers. Undoubtably fear accompanied them and maybe for a split second one or all of them contemplated turning back. Perhaps for a second, they wondered if God really would deliver them from the fire. Their circumstances were anything but desirable. But suddenly, comfort came, in the form of flesh to shield them from the destruction that seemed imminent to all who looked on. 

When Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth person walking in the fire, he knew immediately that God was rescuing His men. There was no denying that what he was witnessing was the plan of God unfolding. He immediately called all three men out. Don't miss how he called them. "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out. Come here!"

Out they walked, not a hair on their head singed, not a blister on their bodies.  Exactly the same on the outside as when they entered the fire, but completely changed on the inside when they came out of it. They didn't even smell like smoke! No charred edges to speak of. They were clean. Completely clean. 

After that, Nebuchadnezzar praised God, and publicly recounted the ways that his three servants had stood for God and were willing to give their lives for Him rather than worship any other thing disguising itself as a god. 

There's so much I love about this story. So much to learn from and so much truth to see. Perhaps the most visible, is how God delivered these men from the fire completely whole and restored. Let's not dismiss how he accompanied them through the fire, side by side to endure the hardship with them. He allowed them to enter the fire, just as He sometimes allows us to experience hardship and struggles, but he faithfully walked with them through it. It seemed at first they were going at it alone, but just when the circumstances became something they could not bear, He showed up to shield them from the pain. Though probably uncomfortable at times, they were protected. What should have killed them made them stronger. 

He does the same for us, if we let him.  When we dare to trust God with wreckless abandon, we may find ourselves thrown into the fire, so to speak. It may seem at times that the whole world is against us. Perhaps destruction seems inescapable at first, but He is always with us. Standing alongside through the hardship and escorting us out, anew and renewed.  Stronger than ever.  And what if, just what if, our moments in the fire lead someone else to call out praises to the One True God Most High?  

What could happen with a faith like that?