One of the greatest stories in the Bible is that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They were foreigners in a strange land, but by the grace of God, they had been promoted to a high level in the Kingdom.  This, of course, made others jealous so they talked the King into making a law that everyone must bow down and worship him.  He liked this and declared it so.  However, these three foreigners were followers of Jehovah, the One True God, and they refused to bow down to anyone or anything else.  The punishment was death be being thrown into a blazing furnace.  They make a great statement of faith and trust in God.  But God is not there.  He does nothing to save them.  He sits on His hands in Heaven as the King has them bound and the fire heated even more.  Have you ever felt as though God is just sitting on His hands in Heaven as you are bound up and about to die?

     For a God who says that He will never leave us nor forsake us, it sure seems at times that we have been left alone.  The bands tighten across our body and we feel the heat on our face.  And where is He?

    The soldiers assigned to throw these men into the furnace are killed by the heat of the furnace when they get near it.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego still fall in.  The King quickly notices that though only three were thrown into the fire, he sees four and one looks like a son of the gods he says. 

     There He is.  He was in the fire.  He was there the whole time. 

     The King begins to shout at these men saying, "Come out! Come here!"  When the king saw them, he noticed that not only was there a fourth man with them, but they were no longer bound.  They were freely walking around.  Yet they did not come out.  My guess is that they did not want to come out, even when the king called them out.  I think Jesus had to persuade them to leave the fire.  After all, they were with Jesus in the fire.  Life was good in the fire.  There was freedom in the fire.

     We worry so much about things and we are afraid of what the outcome will be.  Many issues in life seem as threatening as a blazing furnace.  But don't forget.  If you keep your faith, He will meet you in the fire; in the problem itself.  And He may just use the heat of your situation to burn up that which has you bound.  And you will be set free with Jesus in the fire.