Through the Fire
The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is a common one to most who have grown up in the church. Even from a young age, these people can paraphrase the story: three guys get thrown in a furnace for not worshipping an idol but get saved by God and come out in one piece. But our Sunday school repetitions have diluted a powerful story.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedngo were not asked to stop worshipping God. They were simply asked to bow down to another God in public. In private, they could worship whomever they chose. But they were not willing to make compromises in their faith and refused. Their words, spoken to King Nebuchadnezzar after he gives them a "second chance" to bow down, are powerful: "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:16-18).
This statement is a powerful example of two truths. First, bowing down to idols, even while you remain entirely loyal to God is not okay. How often do we do this? We worship our culture in public and our God in private. Their is no such thing as "private" Christianity. You are either a Christian at all times, or else not at all.
The second truth is even more convicting. We have a tendency to look at certain points in our lives and say, "I trusted God and look what became of it" and then lament about what difficult time we had. The truth is, we haven't really trusted God. We trusted our plans and we trusted God to follow them, but when He didn't, we decided to try a different way.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God, and maybe we should learn to follow their example. We should not trust God to help us avoid the storm, we should trust him to help us through the storm. If we truly trust God, we will follow Him to any place at any time, no matter how difficult or ridiculous.
So next time you are asked to bow down just for a moment to something that is not God, answer as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did... "God will deliver me, but even if He does not, I still love and trust Him enough that I will chose His way over yours."
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedngo were not asked to stop worshipping God. They were simply asked to bow down to another God in public. In private, they could worship whomever they chose. But they were not willing to make compromises in their faith and refused. Their words, spoken to King Nebuchadnezzar after he gives them a "second chance" to bow down, are powerful: "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:16-18).
This statement is a powerful example of two truths. First, bowing down to idols, even while you remain entirely loyal to God is not okay. How often do we do this? We worship our culture in public and our God in private. Their is no such thing as "private" Christianity. You are either a Christian at all times, or else not at all.
The second truth is even more convicting. We have a tendency to look at certain points in our lives and say, "I trusted God and look what became of it" and then lament about what difficult time we had. The truth is, we haven't really trusted God. We trusted our plans and we trusted God to follow them, but when He didn't, we decided to try a different way.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God, and maybe we should learn to follow their example. We should not trust God to help us avoid the storm, we should trust him to help us through the storm. If we truly trust God, we will follow Him to any place at any time, no matter how difficult or ridiculous.
So next time you are asked to bow down just for a moment to something that is not God, answer as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did... "God will deliver me, but even if He does not, I still love and trust Him enough that I will chose His way over yours."
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