The Burning Fiery Furnace

Waiting… That’s where we have been for a while now. There has not been much exciting to share, as far as progress with Chase. It feels like the same old holding pattern we have been in many times before. Try some new protocol or treatment…and wait…and pray…and wait some more.

I attended a bible study earlier in the week where the leader spoke on Daniel 3. The story of King Nebuchadnezzar, his golden statue and his demand that everyone bow down and worship it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; however, refused to bow down and serve a false god so they were bound and cast into a “burning fiery furnace” and King Nebuchadnezzar questioned if “their god” would save them.

It’s easy, in a season of waiting, to question God’s intentions. To wonder if He hears our prayers. To get frustrated and even angry at God for allowing pain and suffering, especially to innocent children. And especially when we don’t see the results or outcomes that WE want or expect to see. It feels like WE are being cast into the burning fiery furnace – where our faith is tested.

But in the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego they had faith in their God, even though they could not be certain that he would deliver them from the flames. They answered with this:
^“17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18

I was reminded that even if God does not answer our prayers exactly when or how we want them to be answered, we are still called to be faithful that He will deliver us from our pain and suffering in the end. He sent Jesus to bear the most unthinkable pain and suffering so that whatever we endure on this earth is only temporary. Having faith means that we submit fully to the Lord, even in the midst of the flames. Sometimes, it’s the trying times, inside the fire, that show us how strong our faith really is.