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Lions' Den Survival Principles 24-Part Series

57 Lions' Den Survival Principles

Lions' Den Survival Principles PART 13 of 24

Surviving the Fire

"Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the
fourth looks like a son of the Gods.’”
—Daniel 3:24-25 (NIV)

“Into every life a little rain must fall” is only part of the story. Most believers have discovered that going through fire is just as common than going through rain. Rain is merely a temporary unpleasantness that does a lot of good overall. Fire is a destructive, all-consuming threat to our very existence. We experience fires of adversity, fires of interpersonal conflict, fires of rejection and heartache, fires of financial need, fires of injustice and exploitation, and fires of physical illness and disease. Experiencing fire is no fun!

God knows we will go through the fires of testing in various ways, so He illustrates methods of handling these testings through the story of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego.

Survival Principle 24: When you’re going through the fire, you don’t have to be "singed" by being in bondage to it. Daniel 3:25 declares that the three Hebrews in the fire were “walking around unbound . . . .” They had been bound when they were thrown into the fire, but now they were free. Often it is even the fire of testing that frees us from bondage to besetting sins, addictions, and destructive patterns of thought and attitude.

How many an addict has refused to change until he ended up in prison? How many an angry man has refused to deal with his ill-managed anger until it cost him his marriage? How many an immoral young girl has persisted in her impure lifestyle until she got an unwanted pregnancy? It is often the suffering of fiery experiences that breaks the bonds of sin in our lives . . . if we let it.

Bible teacher Tim Storey advises, “When you go through hell, don’t stay there!” When you go through the fire, don’t let it conquer you. In the power of Christ conquer it and let it free you.

Survival Principle 25: Whether you can see Him or not, the Son of God is never closer to you than in your adversity. Count on it! Does a righteous father not rush to the aid of his child when he is in danger? Can a loving mother stay away from the bedside of her injured child? Does not a loving friend not hold you more tightly and defend you more strongly when you are being attacked? The Bible’s declaration that Christ “never leaves us nor forsakes us” is certainly even more true when we are in the midst of adversity. Count on His presence and draw on His strength to quench the flames.

Survival Principle 26: Respond in such a way in adversity that others can see the Son of God in you whether you are consciously aware of His presence or not.

By reading Daniel’s account, we have no evidence that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could see the “fourth man” in the fire with them! There’s no record of their touching him, talking with him, or being aware of him at all. When they stepped out of the furnace, he was nowhere to be found or seen. Onlookers, however, could clearly see the image of one “like a son of the Gods” in the furnace. If we surrender to the filling of the Spirit in the midst of our adversity, others will see Him. If we don’t, they’ll see us . . . at our worst!

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© 2000-2004 Larry W. Poland, Ph.D., Mastermedia International, Inc.