I have always had a bit of the stage performance bug in me. In the 5th grade, my church put on a musical "It's Cool In The Furnace." It was a musical about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three men who got thrown into the fiery furnace because they would not bow down to King Nebuchadneezar's false idols.
As a child I marveled at the bravery these three men had to say "No", and follow that, even if they were thrown into the fiery furnace. They said, "Our God will surely save us," (and then here is the amazing part), "BUT even if he does not, we will not serve your Gods". Daniel 3. From my adult perspective, I see something else that happens later in the story. The men emerge from the fire unharmed, their bindings gone. King Nebuchadneezer has a change of heart. He falls to his knees and declares, "Surely your God is the one and only true God. We will worship only Him from now on." The courage, the faith and the trust, despite the odds, that these three men had, opened someone else's eyes to God.
It makes me think about the times I have been in the fire in my own life. Times when I was in a hard spot, when I was dealing with the consequences of my bad decisions, or dealing with unresolved pain. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I was bound and shackled, unable to move and save myself. I was bound by my own limitations and shackled by rejection, hurt and betrayal.
Like a blacksmith heats his metal in the furnace to refine away impurities, make it strong, and mold it into what he wants it to be, so too does God with us. God in his grace and wisdom leads us into the fire.
Let's just get real here for a moment. I don't like the fire. I go kicking and screaming into it. The fire is painful emotionally. It burns away that veil that I have put up to conceal the things that I don't want to see in myself. It leaves me raw and exposed. Sometimes I can feel when I am approaching the fire, like when I hold on to resentment, or when I find myself struggling with emotions and issues I thought I had long since conquered. Other times I don't see the fire coming at all, like when I ignore old wounds for too long, make bad choices, feel lost, defeated and all alone. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, show me something else. God did not rescue them FROM the fire, instead he rescued them IN the fire.
Why? Because the fire does three things. The first is that it refines us. It burns away untruth, those lies we believe about ourselves that God says are not true. It replaces it with the truth about who we are, loved and accepted by an amazing God.
Second, the fire makes us stronger. It tempers our heart by decreasing our self reliance and increasing our self awareness. It softens our heart so that we can hear the word of God. He may do this through other people or events in our lives, or he may speak to us in his still soft voice in our spirit. Through this process we get clarity and a new perspective of what God wants and desires from us, and for us.
The third thing the fire does, is it allows us to have our character molded into who God called us to be so that we can move forward with the richness and blessings He had planned for our lives.
Sometimes God will lead you into the fire. This has been the case with me. I never really wanted to go, but now I trust him to go with me to the scary places. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when the pagans looked into the furnace they saw not 3 men, but four men unbound, walking amidst the flames, and instantly declared that the 4th man was the son of God. God will never ask me or you, to go alone. God is in there with us to wipe our tears, forgive us, and assure us that everything will be okay. He does not want us to be hurt by leading us here, he simply wants to bring us to a better place, refined and beautiful and blessed.
When I look back I can see that the places of calm and easy spaces in my life, have never strengthened me. People who are challenged with situations and struggles either come out bitter or blessed. I have learned to embrace those times when God leads me into the fire. Not because it is not painful, but because when I walk out my bindings will be gone, and I well be free to love and be loved completely.
God has a purpose in the fire. Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." When we find ourselves thrown into the blazing furnace, we need to remember that the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. We serve a loving, tender God, who loves us to much to leave us where we are at. When we are called to "come out" of the fire, we will be a new creation, refined and blessed.