Conviction

From Unshaken on Youversion

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3:19-30

People say, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” In today’s passage, the soldiers could not stand the literal heat of their king’s wrath, so they perished carrying out the death sentence on innocent men. And yet, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not only entered the furnace alive, they were retrieved from the fire without harm. A powerful miracle. 

How did they escape a perilous fate? They knew it was better to die for their belief in God than to live and deny the God that gave them life. Their conviction was held together in community. Because of their radical faith unto death, God met them in the furnace, walked among the fire, and supernaturally shielded them from harm. Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego displayed a holy defiance. They stood innocent and faithful in the midst of unjust oppression. And their God, the Redeemer, rescued His people. 

Similarly, we may all have something in our lives where we are faithfully waiting for the fulfillment of promises from Scripture, that God will redeem His people and bring restoration. If you are waiting for deliverance, continue to wait in holy expectation that God, the Redeemer, will bring glory to His name.

Reflection Question:

1. Take a moment and reflect on the moments in your life where God has intervened on your behalf. Praise God for the steps along the way and praise Him for the intervention yet to come.