Daniel 3:19-30 (Amplified Bible)
19Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and his facial expression was changed [to antagonism] against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was usually heated.
20And he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21Then these [three] men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics or undergarments, their turbans, and their other clothing, and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame and sparks from the fire killed those men who handled Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [saw and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, True, O king.
25He answered, Behold, 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 a son of the gods!
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the midst of the fire.
27And the satraps, the deputies, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered around together and saw these men--that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither were their garments scorched or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who believed in, trusted in, and relied on Him! And they set aside the king's command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
29Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, and language that speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses be made a dunghill, for there is no other God who can deliver in this way!
30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
As I lay down to sleep last night, and thoughts of the past week, came to mind, I was filled with a mix of emotion, but yet my spirit never wavered. As man played God with my career and in some respects my life, I had been afforded one of the most life changing spiritual experiences of my life. As I resolved within myself the defining lines to which I would never cross, I was touched in a way that I had not seen come my way in quite sometime, my body was now under assault. My spirit was thriving, but my world ( in the natural), seemed all but thriving, it appeared to be in the midst of a relenting battle, that sought to take my life and my conviction, but yet my spirit would not yield. Last night, it dawned on me that I was in the the furnace and the king, those in charge had ordered the furnace heat to be hotter than I had ever experienced. What was I to do? Was I to stand alone, or would I have help? That is when God reminded me of the story of the three Hebrew boys that refused to yield and worship any God but their God, the true and living God. What had been their fate, what had been their outcome?
Even in those times in our lives when all hell seems to be breaking loose and it appears that demons that you did not know existed are now at your front door, God is there. But it is our choice whether we will yield to the pressure and serve another God or whether we will stand in faith knowing that God has not left nor forsaken us, even when we do not see or sense Him there. You see when we are walking into the flames and it appears that every circumstance and every situation that is contrary to God and His promises is coming against us; it feels like we are alone and it may even look that way, but if our trust and faith is in the one true God, when people are looking at us even in the midst of the furnace, even in the midst of the situation that they had a hand in creating they will see you and another, and that other is God. He will not allow the embers to singe us, nor the smell of smoke to even rest upon our garments. He will make those who are our enemies rise up and call out to us, and even in some cases to bless and exalt us.
But when the threat of the furnace comes how do we react, do we fold, under the pressure, do we doubt God's ability to rescue us, or even see us through? It is our choice to believe God or not, to stand with Him or not. If we choose Him, He is sure to bring us through and to bring us out at a higher level then when we went in. Is our mantra, "for God I'll live" or is it "for God I'll live when it is convenient for me, and when it is not uncomfortable?" The enemy sees your destiny and if he can get you to relinquish it just with a bit of heat he will. But if we can just stand, realizing that we do not face the flames alone and we are covered with the flame resisting blood of the Lamb, we come out more than an overcomer. We will come out an overcomer that has shown the world that we stand for something, and we don't fold for anything, and that we never walk alone, not even in the midst of the hottest flames!
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