Daily Word of Grace # 125 (September 7, 2020)
The Old Testament book of Daniel includes one of the most famous stories in the Bible. Among the Israelite exiles taken to Babylon after the Babylonians besieged and razed Jerusalem in 587 B.C. were the prophet Daniel and three of his friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (While I have met several Daniel’s in my life I have yet to meet a Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego—but I digress…). King Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue about 100 feet tall and commanded that whenever people heard certain music play they were to immediately “fall down and worship the golden statue.” Those who refused to do so would “immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire” (Daniel 3:1-6). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused, and so were bound with and cast into that fiery furnace. And yet they were not burned. Not only that, when King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fiery furnace he saw four men walking around, the fourth having “the appearance of a god.” When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged they were perfectly fine—“not even the smell of fire came from them”—with the only things consumed by the flames were the ropes that had bound them (Daniel 3:23-27). What is true for them is true for you. When you find yourself in a crucible (and if you have not yet, you will) you are not alone. There is always a fourth Person with you who not only has “the appearance of a god” but actually is God. God will not only bring you safely through that crucible, but will also only allow the things that bind you to be consumed by the flames.
Love and Prayers,
Dave