While most of the book of Daniel talks about how Daniel stood strong in his faith, there is one other story that is worth looking at because it shows us how we can stand firm even in the midst of trials. As much as we try to avoid all kinds of difficult situations, it is often only by going through them that we learn how to lean on our faith and trust God. The Bible says this often:
1 Peter 1:7 (NLV) These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
Romans 5:3-4 (NLV) We know that troubles help us learn not to give up. When we have learned not to give up, it shows we have stood the test. When we have stood the test, it gives us hope.
James 1:2-3 (NLV) You should be happy when you have all kinds of tests. You know these prove your faith. It helps you not to give up.
OK, I don’t know about being happy during trials, but walking through difficult situations strengthens our faith in ways that nothing else can. In many ways, a faith that is tested is a faith that can be trusted. And sometimes that testing comes only through the fire of trials, we see this in some friends of Daniel.
From the first week of our series, we learned that not only was Daniel taken from his home in Israel and sent to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, but so were all the best and brightest young men in Israel. Daniel was not alone when he refused to eat food from the king’s table because it had been sacrificed to the Babylonian gods, neither did his friends Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah. We know them better by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Their names were changed because the plan of the king was to indoctrinate them into the Babylonian culture so they would renounce their faith and never work to reestablish the nation of Israel. The name change was to try and instill in them a new identity that would connect them to the gods of Babylon. Hananiah, which means God is gracious, was given the name Shadrach which means at the command of Aku, (one of the Babylonian Gods). Mishael, which means who is God, was given the name Meshach which means who is Aku, and Azariah, which means God has helped, was given the name Abednego, which means slave of the god Nebo. While their names changed, their identity did not. These three young men continued to trust that God would be gracious and help them.
When the young men joined Daniel in not eating the food, God made sure they were stronger than all the other men in the king's service. They trusted God, and God proved himself trustworthy. Their faith had been tested so now it could be trusted, and they were going to need to trust it because a true trial was coming.
In Daniel 3 we read that King Nebuchadnezzar set up a huge gold statue of himself and called all the people to bow down and worship it. At certain times every day, music would play, and everyone needed to stop what they were doing and worship the king. If you didn’t bow down and worship, you would be thrown into a furnace. By now you can guess what happened, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down to worship the statue. If they weren’t going to eat food sacrificed to the gods of Babylon, they certainly weren’t going to worship a golden statue of the king. So while everyone else was bowed down in worship, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego remained standing. They stood out among the crowd, they stood up for what was right, they stood strong in their faith, but would they now be able to stand in the fire?
Daniel 3:13-18
They stood in the face of the fire and if we want this kind of faith, here are three things we need to do.
1. Be obedient to God in the small things.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were obedient to God in the small things before they stood strong firm in the face of a fire. They trusted God with their diet before they trusted God with their lives. By taking small steps in following God, they experienced that God could be trusted. Now that their lives depended on God alone, they could trust Him completely.
While sometimes the most dramatic stories of faith are of people who come to know God and immediately change their lives and walk in a new direction, for most of us, our faith grows slowly over time. We take a small step, we obey God in some way, and when we find peace, or power, or God’s presence, it gives us confidence to take another step. Our obedience to God in small ways gives God the opportunity to prove himself trustworthy so we can lean on him when the fires start and the problems come.
An area in my life where I took small steps of faith and proved God trustworthy is with money. As a child, one of my greatest fears was that I was going to end up homeless. I remember watching news reports of the homeless in NYC and feared that someday that was going to me. My fear could have led me to a lifetime of holding on to all my money, but when I first became a pastor, I realized that I could never talk about giving to God if I did not practice giving to God myself. So I started to tithe.
Tithing is the practice of giving 1/10 of what God has given to us back to God. Tithing is not a law we are required to follow, it is a spiritual practice that helps us prove that God is trustworthy. It is an act of love and obedience that helps us develop a stronger faith. My first year of tithing was difficult because I had no savings, I had school loans to pay off, and 1/10 of my income seemed like a huge amount of money, but I was obedient to what I heard God say.
I began by tithing my income, then I realized I needed to add to that some of my benefits, and now I increase the percentage each year. This is how I have chosen to practice giving to God, and I can tell you that God has proven himself trustworthy. Over the last 27 years I have never been in need and God has provided for me and cared for me not just financially but in many more ways. It was small steps of obedience that have helped me trust God for larger things.
Maybe the small thing God is asking you to obey has to do with giving, or maybe it has to do with forgiving. While I know forgiving others is often no small thing, there are times that we hold on to small offenses with a firm grip. If we can begin to obey God’s call to love and forgive in small areas, then maybe we find it not only possible to forgive in larger areas, but it becomes our desire to forgive and live in peace.
Maybe the small step of obedience is to serve God or others in just one way this week. Maybe it’s taking time to pray, or reaching out to someone in love, or finding a way to serve in the church or community. It will be those small steps of obedience that will develop a faith that will help us stand firm in the fire.
The second thing we see from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is that they knew God was both Able and Willing to help and save. Daniel 3:17, If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.
Sometimes we believe that God is able to do great things and we see him doing those things in the lives of others, but we question His willingness to do them in our lives While we might question God’s willingness to help us, His desire is to do just that.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he includes this prayer:
I pray that out of God’s glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
God is willing to do great things in us because His love for us is deep and wide and high and strong. Paul understood both God’s power and desire to save because he had experienced it himself. Paul said that in his day, he was the chief of all sinners. He was actually trying to kill the followers of Jesus and persecuted Christ himself, and yet God was willing and able to forgive him, and save him. Paul says, look - if God was able and willing to save me, he will save you too.
You are not beyond God’s hand to save - He is able to do it, but more importantly you are not beyond God’s heart to save, He is willing to do it, and he desires to do it! God’s love is there to help us and strengthen us if we will allow it. The Bible is full of so many passages that talk about the love of God and how it is there to help us and if you need to hear some of them, I want to encourage you to check out the next steps and read some of them this week. Take a small step of obedience and allow God to love you, and lead you, and strengthen you so that He can prove His love for you.
The last thing we see from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was that they knew it was their job to be obedient, and God’s job to care for the outcome. This is hard because we want to know the results before we start, but the reality is that faithful obedience is our responsibility, the outcome is God’s.
Just like Daniel had to keep praying without knowing whether or not he would get thrown in a lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to stand in obedience and leave the outcome to God.
Daniel 3:18. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
They didn’t know the outcome, they weren’t sure what would happen, but that didn’t matter, they knew they just had to be faithful. What helped them be faithful and stand firm was that their faith had already been tested, so now it could be trusted. And they knew that God was able and willing to save them - one way or another. They stood firm and God did save them.
The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ends with them not only being thrown into the furnace but bound hand and foot so there would be no escape. Once they were thrown into the fire, the king looked in, but he didn’t see three bound men set ablaze, he saw four men up and walking around. Daniel 3:24-25.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
In the midst of the fire, God not only saved them, God set them free from the chains that bound them. I love this because their standing firm didn’t just get them through the difficult situation, it allowed them to experience freedom in the midst of it. When we stand firm in our faith, we may find ourselves in the midst of a fire, things might not be easy for us at all, but God is able to set us free from worry or fear as we go through it.
Even more powerful than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being saved in the fire and set free from the chains is that they are not alone, God Himself is with them. There are four walking in the fire and the fourth is God Himself. In their greatest need and most difficult trial, God was there. In the midst of the fire, God was there.
Many times when we stand firm we find ourselves in a fire. The trials are difficult, the pain is real, and the outcome is uncertain, and what helps us stand firm even then is knowing that we are not alone. I have watched so many people stand in the fire of sickness and disease, and what helps them stand firm in their faith is knowing that they are not alone. When we pray, we acknowledge that God is there, and in very real ways God makes Himself known. When we walk through the fire, God is there - God promises that He will be there. We hear this from
Let me end with that promise found in Isaiah 43:1-4a (edited)
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I will ransom you and save you
for you are precious and honored in my sight,
and I love you.
God is willing and God is able to walk with us through the fire, so stand firm. Allow your faith that has been tested to now be trusted.
Next Steps
Stand Firm in the Fire
Read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.
A faith that has been tested is a faith that can be trusted.
What small steps of obedience helped these three stand firm in the face of the fire?
● What small steps of obedience has helped strengthen your faith in God?
● What one small step of obedience do you feel God calling you to take this week?
● How might this help you trust God more in the future?
Do you believe God is Able and Willing to help you? Why or Why not?
● Which do you struggle with more, seeing God as able to help, or willing to help?
● Where do you need God’s help today? He is more than able and He desires to help.
We can stand firm even IN the fire because God Is There.
● When have you experienced God walking with you?
● During what trials have you experienced God’s help or peace?
● Where do you need to experience the power of God’s presence today?
● Ask God to open your eyes so you can see Him with you.
Read and reflect on these scriptures which speak of God’s love:
Deuteronomy 3:6, Joshua 1:6-9, Psalm 18:1-19,
Isaiah 43:1-5, 49:14-16, 54:10, 58:11,
Jeremiah 29:11, Lamentations 3:22-27, Zephaniah 3:17,
Romans 8:38-39, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Hebrews 13:5-6.
