Month: January 2022

FIERY TRIAL

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. Now, those are names you don’t see every day! Try to say them ten times really fast. God had special plans for these young men in the Bible.  If we turn to the book of Daniel, you will find these young men and the fiery trial they went through. Bear with me as I give you a little history lesson and then an application of the story of these three young men.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and captured the city. He instructed that “…they bring some of the children of Israel, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.”

There were four that they chose and brought to the king for this purpose, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that these  names be changed from, their Jewish names, Daniel to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, Mishael to Meshach and Azariah to Abed-Nego. (1:7) There are so many lessons we can get from this book of Daniel, but we are going to focus on the third chapter that tells us about the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.

King Nebuchadnezzar, ordered an image, a god, be built. The image was built of gold and stood 90 to 100 feet tall. (I imagine you could see that when the sun shone on it!) The king ordered that whenever the people heard a (3:7) “…symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”  The king ordered “…whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

Our focus will be on chapter 3. (Daniel is not in this chapter.) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to obey. The king was furious and asked them if they were refusing to obey his order and they said yes. The king immediately ordered that they be thrown into a fiery furnace. He ordered that the fire be made seven times hotter than normal. Usually, when someone was thrown into this furnace, they were stripped. But the king immediately ordered they be thrown in. The fire was so hot that it burned up the men who put these three in the furnace. (23) They “…fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.” Then, something amazing happens. King Nebuchadnezzar said (25) “Look! …I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Verse 27 says “…they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected and the smell of fire was not on them.” Then the king ordered in verse 29, “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made an ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

Now, let’s think about a few things. This fire was so hot. It should have immediately turned them into ashes. The three were bound, they had all their clothes on. When they came out of that fire, the ropes were off-there was no burn marks on their clothes-not a hair was singed-they did not even smell like smoke. Wow! (This made me think of my husband and two boys, who went to Boy Scout camp. When they came home and I was doing their laundry, I just loved that smell of smoke from their campfires.) The king knew that this was done by the only true God!

Let’s think about four things that I see from this story in the Old Testament.

First, I started thinking about those ropes that bound these young men. They are the only thing that was taken off. That is the same way with us. When the things of this world bind us and hold us captive, God can lose them from us. God has given us the Bible to read and thru the Holy Spirit, we can remember special verses that can help us when we go through a trial. I know that I usually turn to the Psalms or my favorite verse of the Bible, Isaiah 40:31. These verses help me to center my heart once more on God and thru them God loses the ropes that have bound my heart!

Second, there was a fourth person in the fire. We need to remember, and believe, that God sends us people at the right time and the right place. Has there ever been a time in your life that it has been evident that God sent someone to you? Years ago, when my husband and I lost our home to foreclosure and we had to take bankruptcy, we were looking at some trailers to rent or buy. We found one that we really liked, which sat up on a hill, and we were going to purchase. We walked around the trailer on the outside. As we came around the side by the road, a car pulled up and the lady asked if we were going to purchase this trailer. My husband said yes. Then, she told us some amazing things. She asked who was selling this trailer. We told her and she said he was a swindler and we should not trust anything he said. She then told us she was the original owner of this trailer! She said that every winter the pipes froze under the trailer and burst because it was up on a hill. She also said that no matter what they did, the roof always leaked. She said to really think before we purchased this trailer. She then left. My husband and I just looked at each other and ended up getting a duplex instead. Which was much better, as I and my kids would have had to try to sell an old trailer that had issues, when my husband passed away. Is there any other explanation other than God sent someone our way to take care of us? God could see in the future and knew that this trailer was not the best for our future.

Third, God took care of them in the middle of this fiery furnace. I started thinking about the fiery trials I have gone through. I always would pray that God would get me OUT of that trial. Make it go away. But instead, I should have been asking God to come INTO that trial with me. Matthew 5:45 reads “…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” This verse tells me that even though we are trying to live for the Lord, we will have trials. We have to live in this world which is full of sin and hardships. We are assured we will “go thru the fire.” Of course, we ask God to make these hardships go away. But instead, maybe we should ask God to come into that trial and help us maneuver thru it. Help us know what is the next step we should take. Hold our hand when the pain and heartache come our way. Help us feel peace in the midst of the pain. The only way we can do any of those things is to invite God in the middle of our trial to help us.

Fourth, when the king asked these young men if they were refusing to bow down to this image, this is what they said. Verses 16 thru 18 read, “…O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, if that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will be worship the gold image which you have set up.” They had total faith in God! Of course, God was able to bring them out of this trial. Snap His fingers and make it all go away. But even if God did not, they would still cling onto their faith and not bow down nor worship this manmade golden god. Do we have that much faith when we are presented with a fiery trial of our own?

Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Thattells us that God is the same always. He helped these young men who were following the old law and He will help us today. Also, it is comforting to know that God will help generations in the future, thru their trials.

We need to remember that God will lose those “ropes” that are trying to make us fall into sin-that are trying to take us down into depression-an addiction that is controlling our lives-anything of this world that is trying to take us away from obedience and service to God. God has a purpose for each one of us in this life. We, also, need to remember, that God sends us help when we are making decisions for our life. Even, when we are making choices that will affect our future. And, we need to reach out to God and ask Him to come INTO this trial with us. We need to realize that because we live in this sinful world, we are going to face “fiery trials.” God will take some of those trials away, but He will also hold our hands while we go through that trial.

God’s promises are today, just like they have been for so many years. We have to cling to those promises, because God is the same as He has always been. God will take care of us when we go through the “fiery trials” that this life sends our way, either by helping us to figure out a way out of it or by holding our hands while we go through it.  Hold onto God’s promises! He is the only answer! Thank you, God!

Till next time!

                                        Keela

OUR ANCHOR

There is nothing magical about changing the calendar to a new year. We are now on the starting line of new hopes and dreams. Everyone makes new years resolutions. A few months in, we can’t remember what we had told ourselves we were going to do and make excuses why we had not achieved those we can remember. We get busy-life happens-our focus is off our resolutions and we realize that our resolutions are not as easy as we had hoped. Did we make resolutions that we really did not have hope, that we would actually attain?

In Hebrews 6:19, we are told that “…hope is an anchor of the soul. Both sure and steadfast, which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” This verse tells me that my hope should only be in Jesus. He gave His life for us on the cross, shedding His blood so that we have the hope of heaven. This anchor is not in the sand. It is not in earthly goals. It is sure-will not cause us to sink. Jesus is “behind the veil” which means Jesus is with God, in the dwelling place of God. That is the only hope that is secure.

The only hope for our future is living our lives for the Lord and one day we will go to live with Him in heaven, if we have served Him through obedience. We can’t have hope in this world and the people who live here. At times this world lets us down, even when we are doing good. We get tired and want to quit. But God tells us to “…let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  We don’t have to see the results of our good deeds. We don’t have to be recognized by this world. This world’s recognition is not the important thing. Doing good deeds, recognized or not, brings us even closer to our eternal home of heaven.

What if we feel like we don’t know what to do and we don’t know how to reach our goal, our purpose, for our lives? Romans 15:13 says “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God is never too early or too late. He is always right on time. We need to live our lives with the hope and assurance that God has a plan, a purpose, for our lives. We just need to continue doing good and maybe in that happening, God is working through that trial or through that other person that we are praying for, to accomplish that hope in our lives. God tells us that we need to have joy and peace in believing that whatever our future holds, we know who holds that future. Our hope comes through searching the scriptures and filling ourselves up with the Holy Spirit by putting those scriptures into action. We have to hold onto our faith and the hope that God is going to provide us with the “instruments” we need to have, so we can accomplish that hope we have, if it is according to His will. Maybe it is not the time in our lives that is best for us to accomplish a plan we have for our future.

A few years ago, my daughter and son in law, wanted to foster children. They took the courses. Fixed their home to welcome a child in. They got the call that there was a fifteen-year-old girl that needed placement in a home. She came and seemed to “fit” in well. My daughter felt like they were helping her along her journey. But then something happened, that my daughter and son-in-law realized she was not going to be able to stay with them. A few months later, my daughter found out she was pregnant. This season in their lives, was not in the plans God have for them. There will come a day they will foster. They have giving hearts. But it will be the right timing in God’s plans for them.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thought of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

When a person feels hopeless, they don’t have anything to hold onto when the trials come into their lives. Maybe that is why having a new year’s resolution is so important to them. They need a visible tangible happening. But then what happens when their resolution is not fulfilled or forgotten? They have nothing. When we believe in God’s goals for us and hope for them, then we can be assured of a good year ahead. May not be what we have in our earthly vision but God has a better vision-future for us. That is where and by whom we have our hope. The assurance that God is always there for us and we can have a firm hope in Him.

Sure, make goals for yourself for this new year! But don’t just put your hope in that goal. If it is a goal that is to be accomplished, be sure that it is in God’s will not your own. We cannot see what God is doing for our good. Maybe you are to be a part of hope for someone else! Maybe your unseen goal is to minister to someone-pray for someone-find a silver lining of hope for someone else-be there with your shoulder to cry on. During the hard times, I have had so many people who helped me through that and reminded me of the hope I have in God’s goodness. But many of those people have gone to be with the Lord or have moved away. What if I am to be that person now, to give others hope?

Don’t be hard on yourself if you have forgotten or have not fulfilled your goal for 2022 already. God has a plan for you that is so much more important than these earthly goals and hopes we promise ourselves on January 1 of each year. Remember, we need to put our hope in God’s goodness not in ourselves to fulfill those goals-that hope!

Have you already forgotten or have chosen not to continue, what you promised on January 1? That is ok! Just don’t forget obedience and our promised hope, should be in God. He will help you find your hope for your future! He is our anchor!

Proverbs 3:5-6  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Till next time!

                                      Keela