Daniel 3:19 –
Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.
This is one of the more well know stories from Daniel, where they refuse to bow and worship the king or his gods and get tossed into a fire. The fire was so hot it killed the men throwing these three
into the fire, yet they survived in everyone’s amazement. From this King Nebuchadnezzar allowed them to worship God as they wished and promoted them within his ranks. They held their faith even in the face of death. Could you?
I know when I read stories like this it amazes me what God can do, but at the same time I have to raise an eyebrow. It’s not that I don’t think God isn’t capable of doing that but why hasn’t this been done recently? As Christians when we read the stories in the Bible we wonder why hasn’t any of this happened today? Why hasn’t the Red Sea parted or someone been raised from the dead? These questions are normal in our walk.
Now we are looking for the big miracles and when we see small ones we tend to dismiss them as chance. In October of 2007 there was a horrific crash in a tunnel on I-5 in California. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped in the tunnel which one fire fighter described as a “blowtorch out of both ends.” Three people lost their lives in a fire that took 300 fire fighters 24 hours to put out. So was that pure luck or a miracle? Again it depends on your point of view.
I wonder about the lives which have been lost by Christian ministers keeping this story true to their hearts? Could you keep true to your faith in the face of a raging inferno? I know I could not honestly answer that because my “Christian” brain says 100% yes, but my earthly body says nope. I could easily justify the retreat so I could “fight for God” another day. Yousef Nadarkhani is currently in prison with two death sentences, it’s a miracle he is still alive! Don’t dismiss God’s work and miracles, but at the same time don’t expecting to have them “your way!”