Daily Devotional

As I read through Daniel 3 and the account of what happened to Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego I was struck with how quickly the current of culture can be swayed.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was full of rage and fury when he learned of the disobedience to his command. He had set up an idol and commanded everyone to bow down before it and those that didn't would be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to bow, no matter what the king said, he got even more furious.

I am in awe of the decision that the three made. How easy it might have been to bow. But then I think of the trials they had already gone through. We can look at the fiery furnace event and think it was such a miracle, but it really was the trials that came before that were the making of the miracle.

The men were enslaved and under Daniel's leadership they decided to forgo the delicacies of the court and only eat vegetables and drink water. And they saw how God caused them to appear better and fatter than all the other young men. They experienced God giving them more knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom than their peers. They were Daniel's closest friends and confidants and were able to experience up close and personal the times when God gave Daniel an understanding of visions and dreams resulting in their rise to power and wealth alongside him. All of these were the stepping stones to their increase in faith.

Looking at this makes me wonder if they could see how those trials helped them when they came to the "big event."  Or did they just grow into it, each time learning that their real success came out of being obedient to God and trusting Him?

My first reaction was in seeing the miracle that God was in the fire with them, that He saved them and they came out without a smell of smoke on them. Oh, I want to come out of trials knowing I was obedient, feeling and seeing God holding my hand, and coming out unscarred by the trial. But this time I saw another life-saving miracle…

After the Lord shielded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego and saved them from the flames of the furnace, immediately Nebuchadnezzar turned his fury on the men who brought the accusation to him about the three men's refusal to bow. They were thrown into the furnace, along with their families. God took care of the accusers. ("Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Romans 12:19–21).

And then…Nebuchadnezzar decreed that "any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Aged-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this.." The direction of the culture changed for a season and God got the glory.

As I saw this new insight I realized the power these steps of faith played. It inspires me to pray with the power of the Holy Spirit, believing with the hope that culture will change because God will reveal His glory.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.