In The Fire

“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.” Daniel 3:25

Do you ever feel like you’re walking in the middle of the fire? Do you ever feel like everything around you just keeps falling apart? Trust me, I’m there.

Lately it seems like if it can go wrong, it will. Our air conditioner has broken (Praise the Lord it’s working now!), our washing machine is still broken, we have one vehicle at the moment, Witten has been sick, and the list goes on and on. I have found myself asking God, “Why?” on too many occasions.

But God has been working on me. Sunday our pastor started a new series called The Shift. Through this series we learn to shift our focus from why to what. What is the Lord teaching us through all of this? Then this morning my devotional hit on the same principles. I don’t know about you, but God always has to get my attention in several different ways before it fully sinks into my stubborn head. So, then, I wanted to share with you.

The above verse refers to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Now if you aren’t familiar with this story, you can read the whole story in Daniel 3:8-27. The gist of the story s that these three men refused to bow down to the image of King Nebuchadnezzar and asa result they were thrown in a fiery furnace that was heated seven times its normal temperature all while they were bound. However, in the midst of that fire Jesus showed up and loosed them and walked with them. Hallelujah!

That last sentence is where God really starts to talk to me. He loosed them and walked with them. He didn’t pull them out of the fire. Instead He gave them freedom in the fire and walked with them. That just gets me excited! Sometimes we’re so focused, especially me, on the fire that we can’t see Jesus. And if we can’t see Jesus, we can’t get full freedom. We stay bound in our despair and our hopelessness and defeat and we succumb to the fire.

Oh, but if we would just look up! He is with us. No matter why we’re in the fire, it doesn’t matter. We should be more focused on why we can’t reach out for Jesus. He is there if we will just look up and take His hand. Let Him free you today of the bondage you are wrapped up in. Even if He doesn’t pull you out of the fire, He’ll still be walking with you every step of the way.

On Sunday, our praise band played a Hillsong United song called, “Another In the Fire”. I have listened to it everyday since then because of the powerful message. You can listen to it here or you can buy it here.

If you live in Dyersburg and don’t have a home church, I encourage you to check out First Christian.