“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” —Isaiah 48:10
Picture this: you are standing in an all-consuming fire. Smoke, dust, and debris is coming from all directions hitting you little-by-little. As you are standing, it is becoming harder to breathe; you start to grab your chest—clinching and gasping for what little air is left. Your cough begins to conceal the atmosphere. Second by second the fire is growing hotter and is becoming uncontainable. Your body slowly starts to shut down as panic sets in. Can you imagine this scenario? For some, this is not a scenario. Everyday has felt like you are surrounded by an all-consuming fire that you are trying to survive. You pleaded and begged God for that child, to only be met with an unimaginable loss. You prayed for that reconnection to your parents, to only be met with a painful rejection. You cried out to God for that dream opportunity, to only be met with negative conditions. The answers you have prayed for have become burned. It is hard to see past what you are seeing because of the flames and fire have left you blinded. The fire is heavy. Can God still use this fiery furnace for my good?
In Daniel chapter 3, we meet “the three Hebrew boys”—better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. In this encounter, king Nebuchadnezzar makes an image of gold for the people to bow down and worship it. The people are gathered in dedication of the image of king Nebuchadnezzar. As the event continued, the Jews were accused of refusing the bow down to this graven image. Consequently, the king orders the three Hebrew boys to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego went before the king and told him that God would deliver them from the fire. Taken aback by their words, the king demands them to be sent away. As they were led to the furnace, suddenly, the men who brought them were instantly killed by the fire. Now, in the midst of the fire king Nebuchadnezzar begins to question the number of men thrown into the fire. To the kings’ shock, he sees a fourth man in the fire—One he equated to the Son of God. The three Hebrew boys then stepped out of the furnace completely unscathed and unshaken. They did not come out smelling like smoke. They did not come out with burn marks and torn clothes. It was almost as if they were never thrown into the furnace. The Lord was with them in this fiery trial.
Now picture this: you are standing in an-all consuming fire, but God is with you. The smoke, dust, and, debris cannot touch you. You have no problems breathing. Though the fire is growing hotter by the second, you are not phased by the warmth that is surrounding you. You are in the fiery furnace, but are not consumed or burned. Can you imagine this scenario? You pleaded and begged God for that child to only be met with an unimaginable loss, but God gave you joy in the middle of your mourning. You prayed for that reconnection to your parents to only be met with a painful rejection, but that rejection led to your testimony that helped someone else through the same thing. You cried out to God for that dream opportunity to only be met with negative conditions, but God gave you the wisdom to be the change and light that was needed in your workplace. God is using this fiery furnace for your good. The three Hebrew boys still had to go through the fire—they were not exempt; in fact, their obedience led straight to the fire. God had a plan for the fire, before they stepped foot in it. Because of their faith, king Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in God. You were not consumed by the fire, but rather changed in the fire. You were not burned by the fire, but rather freed in the fire. You were not inflamed by the fire, but rather refined in the fire. People will come to know the fourth Man walking in the fire with you.
Purposeful Pieces©