Picture three men about to be thrown into a furnace. Fire roars in their ears and waves of superheated air flow toward them. Pain! A furious king gives an ultimatum. “Bow now,” he shouts, “Or what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” He challenges their faith and tells them that they have to surrender to his power or die.
The men’s answer is surprising. “King, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.” No need for a defense. Really? If ever a defense was needed, surely it was then. However, they saw things from a different perspective. By refusing to bow to the king they were telling him that their lives were in God’s power whom they trusted with their lives.
There are many fiery furnace events in our lives: Pain, sickness, cancer, broken relationships. They challenge and frighten us, “Your faith is useless,” they say, “You are in my power. No God can help you now.” But they are always wrong.
At the door of this world’s fiery furnaces, the believer says, “Nothing in all creation can separate me from the love of God in Christ” (Romans 8:39). This can be your affirmation of faith, too. You are not at the mercy of this world’s pain. You can say, “My God is greater than the pain, larger than the hurt, more powerful than the cancer. I trust in Him.”
Lord, I feel the heat and fear the pain, but my life is in your hands, and I will trust in you. Amen.
Go Deeper — Reflect on how there are two ways to think about your life. One starts with circumstances and tries to find God in what can be confusion. The other starts with God and understands everything else with clarity from that perspective.
Read how one person learned how Clinging to God in Difficult Times helps to endure.