Invite Him In

I have been thinking a lot about trials lately and I read something in the Old Testament that stood out to me. It is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego being thrown into King Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. Those three men refused to worship the King's golden idol, and were punished by being bound and cast into a furnace that had been made seven times hotter than normal. Amazingly they were not burnt at all. In fact, as Nebuchadnezzar looked in to see them he found that those three were not the only men in the furnace. He asked his servants what they saw, and this was their reply:

"...Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25).
As soon as the King saw this he commanded they be let out, and not only did he let them go, he promoted them in the "province of Babylon" and commanded that anyone that spoke against their God would be punished. (Daniel 3:26-30)

Often in our lives we may find ourselves thrust into the furnace of affliction. Sometimes, that furnace is way hotter than it should normally be. At these times in our lives we have a choice; let the fire burn or purify us. How do we decide? We choose whether or not we invite Christ into the fire with us. Without him our trials will make us bitter, depressed, angry, frustrated, and weakened. With him they will make us more patient, compassionate, aware of God, strong, grateful-the list goes on and on, and the thing is, it is our choice. If those men had gone into the furnace alone they would have been killed, and, interestingly enough, had they not gone in at all they would never have been promoted nor been able to have a whole nation view their testimonies through the experience. We are the same. We have the opportunity to be "cast" into furnaces. In those moments we are blessed with Christ's help to bless and purify our lives and character and to be able to share this testimony to anyone watching. Our fires can be a blessing to not only us, but to those around us-if we so choose. Robert Frost has told us to "take the path less traveled", but I would add that when we take that walk, it matters just as much who we invite to walk with us. I think Hymn 85 "How Firm a Foundation" sums it all up pretty well:

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

I know if we take Christ with us, no fire can ever burn us up, it can only melt us down and make us something better. And not only that, a better sense of peace than you had before will enter your lives because of your trial. Like jumping into a pool after a long days work outside, our lives will seem sweeter and more fulfilling after our labor of soul.