Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fire for standing for God, yet they came out unscathed. We also must choose this day whom we will serve – our loving Father or man. The Lord may lead us into hard paths to bring His light to others, but He will not forsake us. Those to whom God sends us always have a choice to accept or reject Him. Ours is only to stand for God no matter the outcome. For those following Jesus, success in life is measured by delighting God. Those beloveds who are rejected by man but please the Father have achieved the ultimate success. I faced a grievous situation in which I stood for Him and for those who had been oppressed and was rejected by man. I earnestly sought the Lord and asked, “Do you really not want me to be injured and abused by those that oppress? Do you really not want me burned in the fire?” His response brought me to a deeper understanding of His ways:
Beloved, I Am bigger than you know. I encompass much more than these concerns that occupy your thoughts. Those these seem insurmountable and drain your energy, just know that I Am. You shrink in fear that this is it, there is nothing more. You question, “How could God make another way for Me?” I tell you the truth, I do not delight in the cruel treatment of those who are called by My name and those whom I desire to call by My name. I desire that all are treated in love and grace.
I desired that you would be the vessel I used to bring order out of chaos and establish a standard of righteousness to bring about much joy with those who come into your path. My love, you feel My disappointment at how these have turned to their own ways and means to be successful, rather than My ways. Beloved, know I walk with you in this, know I Am so near to you I breathe even on your neck. You share My heartbreak in this situation.
Be at peace My love, I will make a way for you as I continue to work in the hearts of this people. I desire that all come to repentance. Beloved, you are My Stephen and they chose to reject and stone you, rather than accept what is right and walk in My ways. I will bless those who stood with Me, who wept with Me and for all those who were mistreated and cast off. I will bind up the wounds of these who were afflicted.
I Am much bigger than these circumstances which surround you, for I can even change your life direction in a moment. I can orchestrate a more blessed pathway, for you have been seasoned in the furnace of affliction and I have refined you for My purposes.
Anywhere I place you I can use you and bless whatever your hand finds to do. I would have done this here where I called you, but these have said no, I’ll have none of it. Even in an instant I can change your circumstances, not for the worst, not in a catastrophic occurrence, but in an overwhelming blessing.
Daniel 3:16-18
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Daniel 3:24-28
“Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Excerpt from Hymn: How Firm a Foundati0n
John Rippon – 1787
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.