Daniel 3:19-27 "Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach and..."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace to be heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.” Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. (Daniel 3:19-27)

Question:

I have multiple sclerosis. I read the Bible often, if not daily. Whenever I pray about my future health or disability, this particular passage comes up. I open my Bible and there it is: the same passage. An angel protects all three men and the king changes his mind about their God. Does it have meaning in my circumstance?

Comment:

Well, I think this familiar story has significance in every circumstance. As Paul writes in Romans, “If God is with us, who can stand against us?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery pit for refusing to worship the huge golden statue of a pagan god that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had caused to be built. What’s worth noting here, I think, is that there is very little drama involved. The three youth simply, calmly know that God is with them in even the most extreme circumstance. It never occurs to them that there is anything to fear; their faith is complete, and so the outcome is not only an avoidance of pain, but a triumphant expression of divine love. It isn’t that they were willing to suffer and die for their faith—as many others have done—but that they didn’t believe in the reality of suffering and death at all. 

Perhaps your guidance is inviting you to see your own physical challenge in the same way—not simply to accept it as an unavoidable challenge, but to appreciate it as an opportunity to experience and share the Power of God within you. That’s what makes “Show me the good!” the most powerful affirmation I know.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed