It was as if I could see them standing there, the three of them, and they looked radiant. I thought I should go over and express my sympathy for all that they had endured. I tried to imagine the horror of their demon-driven enemies, the suffocating smoke, the bone-melting heat, the searing flames and haltingly I endeavoured to speak of it.
But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stared at me in utter amazement. "Save your sympathy," they said, "but don't waste it on us for our time in the fiery furnace." They went on to tell me of how they had found Christ walking with them amid the flames and how He had transformed the burning furnace into a Garden of Eden. They told me that their trial by fire was the grandest experience of their lives! As they waved good-bye, they said, "Wise up! If you are going to get upset when the least little thing goes wrong, you'll never know what you are missing."
Will I wise up? Will I see that if God allows a furnace experience, those flames will never harm me but only refine me? Best of all, I'll get to know the Lord Jesus in a depth of relationship I've never known before. Who would ever guess that in the heart of the flames there is a Garden of Eden!
God forbid that I should miss any gardens by drawing back from the very flames which will draw me into the very heart of the Living, Sovereign God. How much poorer we would be without the God-breathed account of three faithful believers in Babylon. How much richer we can be by exulting in the truth of their experience. Remember that the One Who carries the universe on His shoulders carries us continually on His heart. That's why the promise of I Peter 5:7 has always been so precious to believers; CAST ALL YOUR CARE ON HIM FOR HE CARES FOR YOU. A wonderful promise, like a 7-hued rainbow in a weeping sky.
(The kernel for this thought came from J. Sidlow Baxter and I am so grateful to the Lord for the rich benefits He gives us through His loyal servants from the past and the present).
With love and prayers,