“Handling Fire”

“And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.” ~ Daniel 3:20 (KJV)

Tests, trials and adversity are words that we prefer to use towards things other than ourselves. It’s one thing to feel someone’s pain when they are experiencing a trial, but it’s another thing to be the person IN the trial. Adversity comes and goes in our life, but what do we do when it comes? The truth of the matter is adversity reveals who we are as Christians. Adversity proves who we are, it tests our faith, it checks us out like a car inspection at a dealership, it does point checks, and it looks to our inner feelings and deepest parts of the human heart and says “are you who you say you are.” Adversity is never fun, but it can hold within it divine benefits that cause it to be well worth it in due time. One of the problems of adversity is that we cannot see beyond it often, we think “this is it, I am done, Lord it’s over for me, this will never come out right, Lord I may as well give up, I am never coming out of this.” Adversity….

These three Hebrew boys were thrown in the middle of a fiery furnace because they obeyed God. That seems strange, it seems as if you disobeyed God you would be thrown in the furnace, but the opposite was true. The truth is, the people who disobeyed God lived in comfort, but the three obedient Children of God ended up in adversity. They handled it well, they stood up and held on to faith, that’s what we should do, but let’s be honest; our first response to fire is to run. We’ve been taught when fire is around to “get out of there” and sometimes we do that, adversity can make us run from God, but it has a better purpose than that. Life may seem tough for you are the moment, but if you wait a little longer, suffer a little more, become a little more like Christ, there is light at the end of this dark tunnel and that light is Christ. These three Hebrew boys are where we are often, but Christ was with them and He is with us. The only way to stand is to look to Christ, to look beyond where you are and see Christ. We have to reach towards the Word of God in trying times or we will seek temporary pleasure to ease temporary suffering. Temporary suffering plays an eternal part in your life, after you come out of the fire; the very fire you were in will have made you wiser, stronger, better and more effective in Christian ministry. Don’t give up because what comes after the fire is something more valuable than you can ever imagine; Christ-like character. God Bless!

Father in Jesus Name I come to You thankful and grateful that I am in this situation. Lord, I don’t like it, but God it has a purpose. Lord, You work Your work in me, I yield this to You. I ask You to fulfill Your will and desires in this moment of my life. Reveal Yourself to me in this and make me more like Christ because of it. Lord, You know the real meaning behind this season of my life, so I pray that You bring it to pass. Lord, may I be more fruitful because of what I am going through. Lord, help all those dealing with suffering of any type, I pray for their strength, determination and focus to remain solely on You and may they run closer to You to the point where they realize “I need God more” and may they stay there when it gets back to calm weather in Jesus Name! AMEN!

"Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you." ~ 1 Peter 5:7 (GNB)