“But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
— Daniel 3:25 ESV
I’ve been thinking about fire lately.
Not because I enjoy it.
I’m a dog.
Fire is hot. Hot is uncomfortable. And uncomfortable is generally something I prefer to observe from a safe distance while lying on the couch.
My human, however, has been reading about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Three men.
One king with a bad attitude.
One statue
One giant furnace.
And one unexpected Guest.
The Fourth Man.
Now, from a dog’s perspective, I have noticed something about humans.
Most of your furnaces don’t look like furnaces.
Sometimes they look like an alarm clock going off before you’re ready to face another day.
Sometimes they look like a difficult conversation, an unpaid bill, a stressful job, a troubled child, a hurting marriage, or another doctor’s appointment.
Sometimes the fire is simply trying to keep trusting God when nothing around you seems to be changing.
And sometimes, the hottest fires are the ones nobody else can see.
Worry.
Fear.
Loneliness.
Disappointment.
The pressure to fit in.
The temptation to compromise what you believe just to make life easier.
That is when faith gets tested.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted God before they ever saw the Fourth Man.
That’s important.
They didn’t say, “We’ll stand if God gets us out of this.”
They said, in essence, “Our God is able to deliver us. But even if He doesn’t, we still will not bow.”
Now that is some serious faith.
Because every day brings us smaller furnaces where we have to decide whether we will trust God or bow to fear.
And then the fire comes.
But so does Jesus.
I’ve learned something from watching my human through difficult days.
Sometimes God doesn’t keep us from the fire.
Sometimes He meets us in it.
The king looked into that furnace expecting to see three men burning.
Instead, he saw four men walking.
Walking!
Not screaming.
Not defeated.
Not destroyed.
Walking with the Fourth Man.
Maybe that is what faith looks like in everyday life.
Getting up when you’d rather stay in bed.
Praying when you don’t feel like praying.
Choosing forgiveness when holding a grudge feels easier.
Doing what is right when nobody is watching.
Trusting Jesus when you don’t understand what He is doing.
Just taking the next step.
And taking it with Him.
And here is the part that makes this old dog wag his tail a little.
When they finally came out of the fire, the Bible says they weren’t burned. Their clothes weren’t damaged. They didn’t even smell like smoke.
I find that remarkable because I can walk past a barbecue grill and smell like smoked meat for three days.
But those men came through the furnace because they were not alone.
Maybe that is the lesson for us.
Faith does not mean we will never face the fire.
Faith means we never face it alone.
There is a Fourth Man.
And when life gets hot, when the pressure builds, and when you wonder if you can take another step, remember this:
Jesus has not abandoned you in or outside the fire.
He is walking with you through the daily struggles that test your faith.
So don’t bow.
Don’t give up.
And don’t assume the heat means God has left you.
Sometimes the furnace isn’t a single terrible moment.
Sometimes it is simply Wednesday.
But Jesus is there too.
And if this old dog has learned anything, it is this:
The Fourth Man doesn’t just meet us in the big fires of life.
He walks with us through the little ones every single day.
Stay close to the Fourth Man.
The fire may be real, but so is His presence.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
