Fireproof Christians

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fire that was so hot, it killed the guards who were trying to put them into it! We are going to go through some fires in our lives, some so hot that we are going to see others around us not be able to handle them.

“Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God,come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” Daniel 3:26-27

The fire had not so much as touched a hair on their heads! Wow can you even imagine, but it even gets better, they did not even smell like smoke coming out of the fire! We heat our house with wood and every time I so much as crack the door to our furnace I end up smelling like smoke, so I really have a hard time wrapping my head around this miracle that the Lord did for these three men. In the natural it seems so impossible, but I serve a God who can do things far beyond my natural understanding.

There is no doubt we all go through fires in life. Some will be big, and others will be small, but no matter what the size of the fire, God does not want us to be harmed. He doesn't even want us to smell like fire. He wants us to come out strengthened, encouraged, and ready to strengthen and encourage others when we come out the other side. God uses the challenges in life to make us stronger, to build us up and teach us to rely on him more.

There are some people out there who want say “if God is so loving, then why does He let bad things happen?” God allows us to go through challenging times so that we can grow closer to Him, rely on Him more and so that we can bring others to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ by our example of faith in the times of adversity. Bad things are always going to happen, that is simply a part of life, but it is what we do in those times that will determine if we are a true follower of Christ, or if we are one of those who get burned up in the midst of the fire.

So how do we become a “fireproof” Christian?

1. Trusting In the Lord despite our circumstances

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;” Proverbs 3:5

This is a hard one because we so often want to know the whys and hows of life. But unlike God, we can only see our life by looking at our present circumstances and remembering our past situations. But God sees our past, present and our future. God has the whole picture, we only have part of the picture. So we are much better off relying on the Lord for direction through our challenges.

2. Giving thanks in the midst of the fire

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”    
1 Thessalonians 5:18

This is yet another hard one. This is one I find myself failing at time and time again, because when the fires of life start getting hotter I tend to want to gripe and complain about my situation rather than stop and give thanks. It seems to be so much easier to complain about my circumstances then it is to give thanks. The Lord is calling us to not take the easy road of complaining, but rather to take the road less traveled and give thanks as we walk through the fire. Can you imagine what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were saying in the fire? “Lord thank you that we are still alive! Lord thank you that we are able to give you praise!” I can only imagine that they were giving the Lord so much thanks, praise and adoration in that furnace that it made God smile. This is exactly what we need to be doing, giving God the praise and thanks that he deserves while we are going through our fires. I love the idea of putting a huge smile on the face of God in my times of adversity! As I said earlier, I have a long way to go in this area, especially when the fire is long, like years long! This is when it can be so very hard to keep a thankful spirit. I have been trying to keep a gratitude journal for this very reason. And when I am in the midst of the fire and finding it hard to find something to be thankful about, I can pull out my journal and simply start reading through it. I find this to be so helpful. Usually by the time I read through a couple of entries I don’t find it difficult to come up with something to be thankful about.

3. Surrounding ourselves with strong Christian encouragers

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had one another as a source of encouragement along the way. God has designed us to rely first and foremost on Him as a source of encouragement, but also on the body of Christ to help us get through our fires. We are not designed to walk through these fires alone. I thank God for that because our fires in life can sometimes be so challenging that it probably would crush us if we had to do it alone. I know that some of my challenges would have been my end if it were not for the body of believers that God has surrounded me with, and for that I am so very grateful.

My prayer for you this week is that as you face the fires in your life that you begin to fireproof yourself. I pray that you put your trust in the Lord. I pray that you remain thankful in the troubled times, and that you surround yourself with strong christian encouragers. I pray that as you walk through the fires of life that you will come out with no evidence of fire on you, not even the smell of smoke!