Life’s Fiery Furnaces

There are many times in life when we don’t understand why God hasn’t swooped in and taken care of our circumstances right away. We feel like we are doing everything right, as we pray God’s word over our circumstances, and believe with God that all things are possible. The longer the wait the more we get trapped into feelings of, “when God when” and, “why God why” and belief becomes doubt. As time goes by doubt becomes unbelief and we grow cold to the situation.

For me when I was first injured, being paralyzed just became a way of life. I didn’t worry too much about when God would finally jump in and heal me or why He hadn’t yet. I had just accepted it knowing life had to go on. I truly didn’t even think about being healed or even care if I was or not because I had embraced my fate and was fine with life as it was. While I hadn’t grown cold to unbelief,  I had still grown cold to the situation when it came to me being healed.

I believe if you’re walking in God’s will neither one of these mindsets is healthy. In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that King Nebuchadnezzar was about to throw them in a fiery furnace, and with all assurance, faith and trust said, “the God we serve will deliver us.”  The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego up to it (Daniel 3: 22). Can you truly imagine having to anticipate, let alone go through something so harsh as this fiery furnace, and yet stay so calm and confident that you just knew with everything in you you’d be fine. I am truly human enough to say that if someone was about to throw me in some furnace that I would probably think, “okay, Jesus, I guess I’m coming home”, instead of, “Oh, Jesus, I believe you’re going to deliver me from the flames.” But not Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they believed God would deliver them and just as they believed, He did!  In Daniel 3: 25, King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” There the three men were alive and well while in the furnace with a fourth man, Jesus! Not only were their bodies not harmed, but not a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them (Daniel 3: 27, emphasis mine). That is truly a miracle from God.

Even though Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego believed and knew without a doubt that God would deliver them they still had to go through the fiery furnace. While circumstances may feel unbearable, our God is right there with us in the midst of the fire to protect us from harm.  God wants us to have the same mindset when we’re going through difficult circumstances in life. Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we need to believe with everything in us that God can and will deliver us any minute now. We need to continue to press on seeing past our situations as we go through our own fires in life being just as convinced as they were that it’s His will to deliver us.

My accident was twenty years ago this past September. The fact that it’s been so long and I’m still not healed doesn’t mean it’s not God’s will for me to be healed. God can and will free me from this paralysis any minute, but until it happens I continue to live life looking beyond my circumstances knowing He is with me every step of the way. Don’t let your circumstances trap you into “when God when” and “why God why.” Believe without a doubt,  like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,  that God can and will deliver you! He is right there with you while you go through your own fiery furnace in life just like He was with them.