HELEN SANDERS
5-29-2026
TESTED BY FIRE

As we read the story in Daniel how the three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fiery furnace, we see some interesting things. First, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jewish princes brought into captivity. They knew their God. They were trained up in the things of God and knew the scriptures. Second, they refused to eat the King’s food, which had been sacrificed to idols (Daniel 1: 8-16). Third, they were favored with the prison master, to not eat the forbidden food. They stood their ground.

They could be found praying daily, and spending time with God. They were hated for this. They did not bend to the government’s orders to bow down to an idol, and because of this they would be thrown into a fiery furnace to burn. Unlike most of us, they told the King it did not matter what he did to them. If God were to save them it would be fine with them, but if God allowed them to burn it was fine too, they just were not going to turn from their faith.

When they went into the fiery furnace for not obeying the “law of the land,” they soon found a fourth man in the furnace with them. It was no surprise, because that fourth man had been with them all along. They knew Messiah would come. They sought the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob daily. They knew God personally, and He showed up with them in the fire. Of course, as the story goes, they did not get burned, they came out of the furnace alive and well and did not even have the smell of smoke on them (Daniel 3:27). The only thing that was different was that the ropes they had been bound with were now gone and burned up. They escaped the “sentence” of death. They came through the fiery trial unharmed.

The point in all of this is that they knew their God. They spent time every day praying and in the presence of God. I am certain if they had not done this that their fate would have been very different. There is coming a time when we will have to make a choice: go with God or be put into a “fiery furnace.” It may not be the furnace they went into, but it might mean prison, or death. The ONLY way that we can go through this, whether coming out alive or dying, is if we also do what these three Hebrew boys and Daniel did. We must spend much time with God before those days come. Then and only then will we have the peace that they had and say it will not matter whether we live or die because we know God is with us.

Have you separated yourself to God like this? I suggest you examine your heart and get things right before those days of trial come so you can stand strong. The early Christians faced death in lion’s dens, crucifixion and being torn apart, but they did not waiver because they knew there was something better ahead of them. Let us pray that we, too, can stand the fiery test when those days come.