How to Live an Epic LifeSample

Warren Wiersbe said, “When God permits His children to go through a furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat.” 

At Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly referred to as Angola, there is an area where they hold inmates who are about to be executed. In that room, there are two large murals: one of Daniel in the lion’s den, and the other is of Elijah and the chariots of fire. When Burl Cain was the warden, he would tell the inmates, “God might deliver you like He delivered Daniel, or you might die today, and be taken to Heaven. If you know Christ, either way, you will be okay.” 

When I think of real-life applications of God being for us, I think of those three Hebrew boys in Babylon – Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. These three faced a dilemma. King Nebuchadnezzar had built a statue of gold and ordered everyone to bow down and worship the statue. 

Despite the potential consequence of a super-heated fiery furnace, the three Hebrew boys stood firm and would not bow down. They knew their God was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace and out of the hand of the king, but they also said that even if God chose not to deliver them, they would not serve or worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gods. This decision condemned them.

Do you believe God is able to deliver you from whatever it is you are going through? The beauty of being a believer in Jesus Christ is even if God chooses not to deliver you, the worst thing that can happen to you is you get to be in the presence of Jesus forever and ever. When filtered through that thought, our everyday trials might not seem bad.

God decided to deliver the three Hebrew boys. In fact, they did not even smell like smoke. When the king and his advisers investigated the furnace, they saw four people, not three, and the fourth was Jesus Himself, the Son of God. 

Christian, do you feel like you are walking through fire? The God who walked alongside Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael is the same God we serve today, and He will walk beside you.