Never alone in the furnace

Someone said to me that the older a person gets, the easier the Christian life should be. I asked why, and he thought that, with practice, and with an increasing knowledge of God and His ways, obedience should be easier. He forgot one thing—the more a person tries to follow Jesus Christ, the harder the enemy tries to stop him.

The Old Testament prophet, Daniel, had three friends who offer a good example. While in captivity, they were elevated to leadership positions, but faced opposition to their faith. The king told them if they did not worship the golden idol that he made, he would toss them into a furnace. The story is familiar, but the stand they took is most rare!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego said to the king, “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 we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

A similar situation happens in the New Testament. The devil took Jesus up on a high mountain and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if “You will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus replied, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The three men faced a king and the possibility of a furnace, and Jesus faced Satan and the possibility of great power. They all heard the same line—worship and follow something other than God and your life will be a lot easier, better, wealthier, less troubled, whatever. Just forget God.

Walking with Christ does not get easier. The more I determine to follow the Lord and obey Him, the more I am plagued with temptations to do otherwise. Oh yes, just as the “devil left Him for a season,” I have times of relief, but when the temptations come, each time they are more intense, more subtle, and more difficult to resist. I can almost hear my enemy say, “Compromise on just this one thing, and I will leave you alone.” Since he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8), I know that he will not leave me alone until he has me very far from walking with the Lord.

A song comes to mind, with words something like this: “You are my hiding place, You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance . . . whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You, I will trust in You. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong in the strength of the Lord’ . . . I will trust in you.”

If anything gets better, it is this: I know more of my own weaknesses, and I know more of the power of God than ever before. I know Him as my hiding place. Relief is not in diversions, distractions, vacations, or any of the more/bigger/better that the world, the flesh, and the devil offer. I can better recognize my fears, and instead of first trusting in my own resources (only to find out later that they are not sufficient), I can more quickly trust in Him.

Those three went into that furnace knowing God could deliver them, but not knowing if He would. That is faith. Were they as surprised as their oppressor who watched, then said, “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.”

The furnaces are here and the fire is hot. The oppressor keeps shoving me into it, but whether he knows it or not, I know that I am not alone. The same one who walked that fire with Daniel’s friends also promised to never leave or forsake me. His presence may not change the temperature of the fire, but because of it, I’m not walking through anything by myself.