The Phil Dooley 5 Day Men's Growth ChallengeSample

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Our next heroes remain true to God under immense pressure. Although their situation is extreme, their dilemma is our modern dilemma: the challenge of remaining faithful to God in a culture that doesn’t honour God. 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are actually contemporaries of Habakkuk. Exiled to Babylon, they rise from obscurity to positions of influence and wealth in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court, while maintaining their integrity and remaining true to their faith. 

But their faithfulness and obedience don’t make their lives any easier. In fact, when they refuse to bow down to a golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar, he has them thrown into a roaring furnace, turned up to seven times its usual heat at the king’s command.

The furnace always represents trials and tribulations. Have you ever felt like you’re doing everything you’re supposed to – you walk with God, you love your family, you work hard, you give, you help – and yet you find yourself in a flood of trials? 

Often, the furnace is hotter precisely because you are faithful to God. "But why?!’" you may ask.

Because God is doing a work in you. The furnace refines your character like fire refines gold, removing impurities and areas of weakness. It also equips you with courage, faith, and endurance because God needs overcomers for His work to be accomplished. 

How you respond to the furnace will determine the course of your life. See, a furnace is also a crossroads. If you cling to God in the trial – instead of looking for an easy way out, or compromising your integrity and conscience – then the suffering and hardship will make you, not break you. 

Bound, hand and foot, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are thrown into the flames. Yet, when King Nebuchadnezzar looks again, a fourth person, who "is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:25, NKJV), has appeared in the furnace with them. The only things the three young men lose in the fire are their bonds, or restraints. 

Not only will God be with you in your furnace moment, but He will use it to free you from the things that are holding you back. 

I wonder what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would tell us, if they were here today?

Perhaps they would say: "You cannot avoid the furnaces of life, or predict what their outcomes will be, but you can know and trust the One who will walk with you through the flames. He will never fail you nor abandon you nor relax His hold on you."