When we walk through the fire

Isaiah 43:2
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.
 
Today the Lord spoke to me that nothing could harm those whose walk is upright before Him.
 
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

That is not to say that things which would normally be harmful will not come into their life. In fact the very way that God uses to show us and others His power is precisely by letting things happen in our lives which normally would destroy us.

Think about it for a while with the stories of the Bible in mind and you will see what I mean. Almost every person in the Bible experienced something that should have left them devastated and yet they were saved by God. We call Jesus savior and that is what he loves to be. He has been doing it since the dawn of history.

The Bible stories little children love most are the ones about God saving people from terrible things. Noah being saved from the flood in the Ark. Moses getting saved from the edict of Pharoah to kill all the firstborn Hebrews in a floating basket, David being saved from Goliath, Jonah being saved from the great fish, Daniel being saved from the lion's den and my favorite Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego being saved from the firey furnace. 

The last one gives the real reason we can walk through our own firey furnaces and not be burned.

Daniel 3:20 He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. 22 For this reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. 23 But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied to the king, "Certainly, O king." 25 He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!"


I think the reason little children love these stories so much is that they are still able to believe that they happened just like the story says. Somehow as we grow up we lose the wonderful awe of life and we can easily dismiss them as just children's stories.

I believe that the stories are based on historical realities. For children the wonder of imagination can let them believe almost anything. For us as adults we make a rational choice based on revelation to believe them.

I believe that three men were thrown into a furnace so hot that those who threw them in died. I believe that three men went in but a fourth man joined them. I believe that same fourth man joins us in our firey furnaces and we come out unharmed..... not even the smell of the fire on us.

I believe that fourth man was not "like" a son of the gods. I believe he was the son of the living God - Jesus.

I was talking to a friend yesterday whose marriage is going through difficult times. She asked me what I would do if I were her. I told her to remember when she first gave her heart to Jesus. I knew her when that happened. I remember how wonderful life was for her even though things were difficult. I remember how she would worship him without reserve and what joy she experienced in her love for him and his love for her. I then asked what had changed? She understood immediately what I was saying.

You see I believe that if we remain in the wonder of our first encounter with Jesus nothing can touch us. It is only when we lose our first love that the days begin to be long, our relationships take the place he once held and finally we can be bored of everything that used to represent him to us.

That's just how it happens with human relationships. The joy of our first love only goes away because we take it for granted and we stop living in gratitude.

It is the presence of the Lord in our lives that keeps us from the fires of life and hell.

The three young men who were thrown into the fire were willing to die to follow him. That is because they loved him.

Loving Jesus does not keep us from the fire. It lets him walk through the fire with us.

When I was young in the faith and still worried about going to hell I realized that even if I were in hell and he was with me even hell would be endurable. And that is true. Hell is not hell because of fire. Hell is what is is because God is not there. Hell is the complete absence of God.

Today again I saw that the Joy of the Lord keeps us in the centre of God's will. Nothing can take the place of Joy. If we sacrifice it for the cares of the world we will become unfruitful.

Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

In times of deep trial it seems as if Joy is not appropriate. Yet it is the very thing which will keep us safe in God. Joy is not happiness..... happiness is based on happenings...... Joy is based on Yahweh. The actual word comes from His name. Sorrow is not the opposite of Joy. In fact we can experience the greatest joys in the middle of our greatests sorrows. This is because Joy comes from knowing that Jesus is with us in our sorrows.

How often have I watched a little one hurt themselves. Immediately they cry out to be held by the one who they love the most on earth.... their mommy. When she is there and holds them the pain does not go away but a marvelous thing always happens. The child begins to relax. Soon they quiet. If the pain is great they will gently sob as they hold on to her. If they think she is about to leave they begin to cry more loudly.

I have sat at the bedside of many people who are dying. What morphine cannot do, the presence of a deeply loved spouse or friend does. In spite of the severity of the disease, having someone they love be with them, holding their hand or embracing them brings a peace that nothing else can.

This is what I understand to be the primary experience of Joy. It is that intangible help that we are given when we are with the one we love and know loves us. The greatest Joy is found in Jesus. It can take us through the most severe trials we can ever imagine facing. It can make our days radiantly beautiful when they normal and commonplace.

So how do we walk through the fire and it not burn us? The same way three men did it centuries ago - By letting Jesus be the one who we stay close to when we are going through it.