He is with you, even in the fiery furnace of affliction

Daniel 3:27 "And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed upon them"

Last night I was lamenting to a dear friend of mine that I was concerned that as I wrote these daily devotions, they were starting to become repetitive. My concern was that things were becoming redundant with the same message being repeated over and over..maybe just in a different fashion. My friend looked at me and said.."If your husband told you he loved you a million times, in a million different ways, which way would you not want to hear?"
Wow. That statement reached to the depth of my soul. My heart's cry in sending these devotions daily has been to just give each of the people I love, a little bit of encouragement every day..a way to start your day focused on Jesus..a way to be reminded that in Him..we have hope. In Him, we can trust. In Him, we will never lose our way. I am realizing more and more every day that this world is not my home. I'm sure you are too. When I see the suffering that goes on around me, I want to cry. But..at the same time, I want to spend my life helping others.. You see..so much of my life has been spent looking inward..but I want to spend every moment of time God gives me now, focused outward..on the needs of others. I love all of you..and so does your Savior.
He wrote us a love letter...the Bible. So many amazing stories..and astounding truths found in the Word of God. The one that I want to zero in on today is very simple. Your God is with you. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were told to worship the image that the king had made, they refused. The king became very angry and had them thrown into the fiery furnace. He had his soldiers turn the furnace up seven times hotter than normal. When the soldiers threw the three young men into the furnace, it was so hot that they themselves were killed by it. And yet..when the king looked down into the furnace, he saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego..unharmed, unsinged, untouched...but that was not all that he saw..now there were not just three men in the fire, but four. The fourth, the Bible says,the fourth man looked like the Son of God.
Beloved, no matter what fiery trial you are in, your God has not left you. He is with you in the furnace of affliction. These three young men were completely untouched by the fire and heat. No scorch marks were found on them and they didn't even smell of smoke! Only the rope that had been bound around them had been burned!!
No child of God can be bound by man, when God wants him to be free. The power available to us is the same power that delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Trust God in the midst of every trial. We don't always understand the trials we go through, or the reason for them..but we never have to fear that God is not with us. We never have to worry that He would let go of us, in any way. The only thing that God wants removed from you beloved, when you are in that furnace..is the tie that would bind you...the rope that would hold you captive. Your God wants to deliver you from any type of bondage..any type of worry, anxiety, depression, fear, or even torment that you may be dealing with. He is with you in the fire beloved. The fire has no power over you. Jesus Christ does.
I have heard the story of how they make gold. They have to melt it down to bring out any imperfections that are there..as the fire gets hotter, the imperfections come to the top. Those imperfections are scooped out of the scalding heat time after time, until the gold becomes perfect. You are more precious than the finest gold found anywhere on this earth. Today, if you are finding yourself in the furnace of affliction, remember that you are not alone. Remember that the only thing God wants to remove from you are the imperfections that the world tries to heap upon you..God wants to cut every rope in your life..and He wants to bring you forth perfect. You are of great value to Him. You are loved. Don't ever forget it.