What it's Like to Walk Through the Fire

This past Fall, while I was reading through the Bible with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan and devotional, on September 12, I came to ​Daniel chapters 1-3.

There, in Daniel 1, we read about what it's like to walk through the fire—literally.

From Sweeter Than Honey: Some of you know what it’s like to walk through the fire. Some of you have walked that walk. You may be walking that walk today. I’m not sure how anyone walks the walk through the fire alone, without God. In Daniel 1, we meet Daniel and his three friends— Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, or better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The Bible tells us that these four boys were “youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace” (Daniel 1:4). 

We also read that “Daniel replied with prudence and discretion” (Daniel 1:14). 

Before we go any further, I want to point out one thing, and that’s back up at the beginning of the chapter. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand” (Daniel 1:1-2). The keywords here are “And the Lord gave” (1:2). Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon because God allowed it. When you and I walk through the fire, it’s because God allows it.

In chapter 2 of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has a dream and he not only wants his dream to be interpreted, but he also wants the interpreter to tell him what the dream was. This is no small thing. But Daniel is up to the task because God is up to the task! Daniel’s prayer:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to Whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king's matter.” (Daniel 2:20-23)

Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar that he can tell the king the dream and interpret it because “there is a God in Heaven Who reveals mysteries” (Daniel 2:28). When Daniel does this, the king falls on his face and says, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery” (Daniel 2:47).

Because Daniel was able to tell the king his dream and interpret it, he was promoted to ruler over the province and chief over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel remembered his friends and made a request of the king. So the king “appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon” (Daniel 2:49). Daniel 3:8-30 records the account of the fiery furnace that these three had to walk through. Today, as we read this, let’s remember how God is also with us through any “fiery furnace” we walk through. "…for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way" (Daniel 3:29).

How has God walked with you through the fire?

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