Walking back out

But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied.

“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god^.”

 Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Daniel‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬-‭26‬

My spouse and I watched Daniel and the Fiery furnace this weekend. Although it does not completely line up with the Biblical account, there was some creative liberty taken to make the story flow; it was such a good movie. As this scene was playing in the theater, the thought went through my head “As much as they had fear walking out, it had to be so much harder walking back out.”

In the movie, you could see their unspoken fear as they walked boldly towards the furnace. They had refused to obey the king’s decree to bow to a golden statute made in his image. They were faithful to God. They knew the price was death by furnace. In the king’s fury, the furnace heat had been increased seven times. The guards taking the three Hebrew children, bound to what they presumed would be the captive’s death, was actually the death of the guards. The fire was so hot it consumed them. Although afraid, and making the statement: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

The three young men entered that fire. And then, the pagan king witnessed that there was a fourth man in the fire. They had been in the presence of Jesus, the Son of God. All I could think, is how hard it must have been to leave Him. They had walked into the fire by faith, but now the evidence of their faith was seen. It was seen not only by them, but also by the crowd and king who had gathered to bow to the king of Babylon. Instead they saw the king declare the Hebrew men served the Most High God.

It takes faith and courage to stand up for what we believe in, even if we are not facing physical death. The U.S. culture has a right to freedom of speech. Somehow as believers we often remain silent. We bow our knee to the world instead of standing our ground.

Yet, when we walk in obedience to the Word of God, He is with us. As believers, He will never leave us or forsake us (John 14:16, Hebrew 13:5). And every time we walk by faith into a situation with fear, insecurity, or doubt, our actions of obedience overtake the thoughts in our head. Walking back out, of whatever trial we enter, we have bolder faith. We also have the Holy Spirit within so that walking back out, He is still with us.

Walking back out, we can count it great joy because going through increases our endurance.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4

 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5

Walking back out, stands as a testimony to those who saw what we walked in, drawing them to know more about the God we serve.

“Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭‬‬

The three Hebrew boys, walking back meant leaving the Son of man and continuing on in faith. Thanks to the finished work of Christ, walking back out from the fire, Holy Spirit remains in us we are not leaving Him. We leave the fire, we take with us the faith, the endurance and the testimony to help point others back to Christ.