God Is with You in the Fire

Have you ever felt like giving up because you were stressed out and overwhelmed by circumstances you couldn’t control? 

The truth is Satan wants us to spend our days frustrated, anxious, in fear and out of touch with God. And though it’s easy to focus on our circumstances, that never helps. Instead, what we really need to do is stop thinking about what’s wrong and fix our eyes on God, who’s in control, always with us, and always able to help us do whatever we need to do. 

Look with me at 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (AMPC). Here, the apostle Paul says, "We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed I every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; we are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed."

When I look at these verses, I think it’s interesting that Paul says they couldn’t find a way out, but he didn’t say there was no way out. See, even when we can’t find a way out of our problems, we can put our hope in Jesus, who has promised us that He is the Way (John 14:6). 

Sometimes, when pressures mount and life gets hard, it can feel like you’re in a fiery furnace. But it’s time to stop wearing yourself out trying to figure things out! Begin to trust that God will bring you through because He is our Way when there seems to be no way. 

Daniel chapter 3 shares the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who, because of their faith in God, refused to worship a statue of the king of Babylon. Their protest infuriated the king so much that he ordered them to be thrown into a fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than usual. In fact, the furnace was so hot it burned up the men who threw them inside of it! 

Now, here’s the part I want you to see: The Bible says that the three men were bound and thrown into the furnace, but when the king looked in, he saw four unbound men walking around in the fire (Daniel 3:23-25). Who was the fourth man? Who freed them from bondage and rescued them from death? The One who never leaves us nor forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:8). 

So, if you are thrown into a fiery furnace—a sudden crisis or ongoing challenge you think you just can’t stand any longer—Jesus will be there with you. And in His presence, you will have peace and the strength you need to do whatever you need to do. 

Proverbs 3:5 (AMPC) says, Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 

We always want to know how God’s going to deliver us. But anxiety comes when we try to figure everything out on our own. Walking by faith means that when we’re having trouble, we don’t need to have the answers all the time. If we knew all the answers, we wouldn’t need to trust God. 

We can be comfortable not knowing what’s ahead. Real faith in God says, “I trust You, God, even though I don’t understand everything.” 

The roughest times in your life are when your faith grows the most. Each time we go through things with God, we learn to trust Him more. That’s what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did when they stepped into the furnace. But when they came out, they came out free, with an experience nobody could steal from them. 

No matter what you might be facing or what comes up in the future, I want you to remember two things: God is with you…and He’s in control. 

If you feel like you’re in the furnace right now, I encourage you to not let anxiety overtake you. Don’t look ahead to your situation and think, There’s just no way I’m going to get through this. Put your confidence in God and keep moving forward, because He is with you and He will help you through it.

God is with you in the fire, and He’s the Way when there is no way.