Debbie shares her thought for the week; faith in the fire.

I really love camping and I also really like a campfire and I really love to do those in the garden if we can, but the thing I don’t like is I do not like that lingering smell of smoke! You know the one that gets into your hair, in your clothes and into the house if you haven’t shut a window and it takes quite a lot to get rid of it doesn’t it? You know you have to have a shower to get out of your hair, you have to wash your clothes otherwise it lingers and it can really hang around for a long time.

I was recently reading the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel. It’s the story of three men who are put into a fiery furnace because they refuse to obey the king. They refuse to bow down to the king’s statue. What is amazing about this story is that God goes into the fire with them and then saves them. It says in verse 27:

The fire had not touched them, not a hair on their heads was singed and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke.

Daniel 3:27

I love that last sentence ‘they didn’t even smell of smoke’. As Christians we can face some real difficulties and some of them can feel like they’re a fire. Fire can be overwhelming, it can be out of control, it can be a really scary experience and God knows that we’re going to face those things. But what’s amazing is that God gives us the same promise as he did to Shadrach Meshach and a Ben-Nigot that he will take us through the fire and we will be unharmed. In Isaiah 43 it says exactly that, when you go through the fire you will not be unharmed, the flames will not even touch you. What an amazing thing!

But actually when the presence of God is with you in the fire you can survive it, but actually it can be more than simply surviving. You can be in the fire without even smelling of smoke. You see that’s the bit that really got me this week that God will take us through these fires but he’ll take us out the other side and beyond to a time when we have no memory, no difficulties associated with that experience where we’re just living in God’s freedom and God’s love.

I think it’s amazing that those men came out of that fire and they weren’t even smelling of smoke. There was no evidence to even suggest they’d been in a fire. What a witness to those people around us, what a show of God’s divine protection and power. They carried on their life still with the memory of God saving them but knowing that they had come through that fire and beyond.

I don’t know what you’re going through at the moment, I don’t know what difficulty you’re facing but I can assure you that God says he’ll take you through it and he’ll bring you out the other side but he’ll also bring you out the other side beyond it. You won’t even smell of the fire. There won’t be anything that keeps reminding you of going back to those difficult times. You can just rest in the knowledge that God has indeed brought you through the fire and you are unharmed.

Have a great week.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.