AN EVER PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE 3

 

Daniel 3:24-28

New King James Version

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.

 ²⁷ And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!

When Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were taken captive, they were young and had their whole lives ahead of them. They were obviously from godly homes because we see them refusing to eat meat from the kings table because it had been sacrificed to idols in keeping with their Jewish beliefs. Yet in spite of being prisoners of war in a strange land they never turned their backs on God we have no record that they ever returned home or where reunited with their families but they kept waxing stronger in faith. As far as they were concerned even if God chose to allow them to be thrown into a burning furnace to be roasted to death for choosing to honour him they were okay with it, totally submitted to God’s will for their lives.

 

This was something I struggled so much with i.e. accepting what God allowed. Like these Hebrews I found myself in a ‘strange land’ called widowhood. My belief was God would satisfy my family and I with long life because we were His children and specifically asked Him for protection and long life and we didn’t deliberately do anything life threatening. This made it so difficult to accept my husband’s early death. However as Christians if we have done what we know to do we should leave the results in God’s hands because He alone has the big picture and regardless of what we have experienced he does all things our best interest.

As to be expected the king was furious and asked the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter than it should be and then had them bound and cast into the burning fiery furnace. The furnace was so hot that those that threw them in were consumed by the fire. The king and his advisers settled to watch these men burn but suddenly the king rose in haste and said to his counselors, did we not cast three men into the fire and they answered yes. Then he said ‘But I see four! He must have wondered if his eyes were playing a trick on him. There was something about the fourth man, according to the king he looked like the son of God! My Goodness! This makes me so excited! Yes! The ever and very present help was right there in the fire with them never leaving them nor forsaking them even for a moment.

 

They were not crying out in pain for help instead they were walking loose in the fire with the Lord that’s assuming they even saw him or knew he was there. I have often wondered if they knew he was there or felt his presence or if God allowed only Nebuchadnezzar to see Him. I remember days when all I wanted was some form of assurance to know that God was with me because going by my feelings he just didn’t seem to be anywhere near me.  Well the fire that was so hot and killed those who threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego turned to air-conditioning. The same fire that melted the ropes they were bound with did not burn them! I love verse 27 ‘…and the ………crowded around them. They saw the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.’ Wow! So cool! Anyone that has used a kerosene stove or firewood to cook knows that it leaves  the smell of  smoke on your body and clothes but these guys were in raw liquid fire and not one strand of hair was singed neither were they smelling of smoke. This is our God at work.

 

Child of God how hot is the fire you are in? God is in it with you. King Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in their God and an evangelist of some sorts because he ordered that no one must say anything negative about their God then he promoted them. This is because he experienced firsthand God’s salvation and deliverance of His people. I read somewhere that ‘affliction is the birth place of destiny’ the affliction of these men led to their promotion that is what God intends for you and I. God intends to bring you out of the fire and storm of grief completely whole not ugly, burnt and scared but beautiful, restored and blessed! When people see you they will not smell the smoke of your affliction or see scorched robes and singed hair they will see a perfectly whole person and then you will be an authentic testimony of God’s faithfulness when he says ‘when you pass through waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they will not over-flow thee: when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee’ Isaiah 43:2(KJV). Like king Nebuchadnezzar said ‘there is no other God that can deliver after this sort!