March 20th Devotion
Face the Fire with Courage
By Jessica Van Roekel
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18, ESV
Have you ever faced an ultimatum where you knew that to answer according to your convictions meant you would stand alone? We stand at a crossroads and know a decision lies before us. Rejection is probable. This type of disregard hurts, but so does compromising our convictions. We need uncommon courage to follow God in a culture that leaves God behind. Can we be known as people of courage?
God calls us to throw off the things that hinder us and prevent us from growing in him. It’s like tossing aside our cumbersome winter coat when warmer temperatures arrive. Spiritually, it means we need to examine our hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit and then end the thoughts and behavior patterns that he reveals to us. Growing in Christ means examining our belief system with a biblical worldview and then aligning our hearts with his. This takes remarkable courage.
The Bible has many examples to inspire us to stand strong in the face of difficulties. The three Hebrew boys from the book of Daniel are some of the bravest. They had a choice: approve of worship to an idol and bow before it or reject it and face the fiery furnace. They chose the furnace. In their act of turning away instead of bowing low to the golden image, the king rejected them and ordered them to be killed.
I’ve chosen the idol of people’s opinions. Their positive opinion made me soar, and their negative opinion led me to the depths. Rejection can be a fire in our lives. It burns relationships till all that’s left are white hot coals. It turns our self-perception to ash and consumes how we view God. Rejection can feel like a blazing fire engulfing the good in our hearts.
We want to stand in the fire without getting burned, but we forget who is with us. We take our eyes off Jesus and place it on someone or something else. Yet Proverbs 29:25 says the fear of man is a snare and those who trust in the Lord are kept safe. A snare traps its prey to be killed later. Rejection traps us in the ever-revolving door of validation from others. When we fail to make God first place in our life, we lose the courage to stand in the fire without being consumed.
But we can say, God, you have first place in my life no matter what happens. I'm going to trust you with everything I have. I'm going to chase after your opinion. I'm going to find out what your word says. Then we can stand with courage as the Hebrew boys did. We can face the fiery flames of rejection knowing he is with us. He carries us and walks with us through it all. We emerge on the other side to give God all the glory.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
When you face a situation where you feel like rejection burns the landscape of your life, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you feel like you're in a fiery furnace, know this: God is with you. He carries you and walks next to you. God gives you the strength you need and asks you to fix your eyes on him. Look straight into his face, see his glory, make his opinion your number one pursuit, and you will gain the courage you need.
By Jessica Van Roekel
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18, ESV
Have you ever faced an ultimatum where you knew that to answer according to your convictions meant you would stand alone? We stand at a crossroads and know a decision lies before us. Rejection is probable. This type of disregard hurts, but so does compromising our convictions. We need uncommon courage to follow God in a culture that leaves God behind. Can we be known as people of courage?
God calls us to throw off the things that hinder us and prevent us from growing in him. It’s like tossing aside our cumbersome winter coat when warmer temperatures arrive. Spiritually, it means we need to examine our hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit and then end the thoughts and behavior patterns that he reveals to us. Growing in Christ means examining our belief system with a biblical worldview and then aligning our hearts with his. This takes remarkable courage.
The Bible has many examples to inspire us to stand strong in the face of difficulties. The three Hebrew boys from the book of Daniel are some of the bravest. They had a choice: approve of worship to an idol and bow before it or reject it and face the fiery furnace. They chose the furnace. In their act of turning away instead of bowing low to the golden image, the king rejected them and ordered them to be killed.
I’ve chosen the idol of people’s opinions. Their positive opinion made me soar, and their negative opinion led me to the depths. Rejection can be a fire in our lives. It burns relationships till all that’s left are white hot coals. It turns our self-perception to ash and consumes how we view God. Rejection can feel like a blazing fire engulfing the good in our hearts.
We want to stand in the fire without getting burned, but we forget who is with us. We take our eyes off Jesus and place it on someone or something else. Yet Proverbs 29:25 says the fear of man is a snare and those who trust in the Lord are kept safe. A snare traps its prey to be killed later. Rejection traps us in the ever-revolving door of validation from others. When we fail to make God first place in our life, we lose the courage to stand in the fire without being consumed.
But we can say, God, you have first place in my life no matter what happens. I'm going to trust you with everything I have. I'm going to chase after your opinion. I'm going to find out what your word says. Then we can stand with courage as the Hebrew boys did. We can face the fiery flames of rejection knowing he is with us. He carries us and walks with us through it all. We emerge on the other side to give God all the glory.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
When you face a situation where you feel like rejection burns the landscape of your life, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you feel like you're in a fiery furnace, know this: God is with you. He carries you and walks next to you. God gives you the strength you need and asks you to fix your eyes on him. Look straight into his face, see his glory, make his opinion your number one pursuit, and you will gain the courage you need.
Posted in Devotions
Recent
Archive
2024
January
December 31st follow-upJanuary 1st DevotionJanuary 2nd DevotionJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 7th Follow-upJanuary 8th DevotionJanuary 9th DevotionJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 14th Follow-upJanuary 15th DevotionJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th DevotionJanuary 18th DevotionJanuary 19th DevotionJanuary 21st follow-upJanuary 22nd DevotionJanuary 23rd DevotionJanuary 24th DevotionJanuary 25th DevotionJanuary 26th Devotion1-28-24 follow-upJanuary 29th DevotionJanuary 30th DevotionJanuary 31st Devotion
February
February 1st DevotionFebruary 2nd DevotionFebruary 5th DevotionFebruary 4th Follow-upFebruary 6th DevotionFebruary 7th DevotionFebruary 8th DevotionFebrtuary 9th DevotionFebruary 11th Follow-upFebruary 12th DevotionFebruary 13th DevotionFebruary 14th DevotionFebruary 15th DevotionFebruary 16th DevotionFebruary 19th DevotionFebruary 20th DevotionFebruary 21st DevotionFebruary 22nd DevotionFebruary 23rd DevotionFebruary 26th DevotionFebruary 27th DevotionFebruary 28th DevotionFebruary 29th Devotion
March
March 1st DevotionMarch 3rd follow-upMarch 4th DevotionMarch 5th DevotionMarch 6th DevotionMarch 7th, 2024March 8th DevotionMarch 11th DevotionMarch 12th DevotionMarch 13th DevotionMarch 14th DevotionMarch 15th DevotionMarch 18th DevotionMarch 19th DevotionMarch 20th devotionMarch 21st DevotionMarch 22nd DevotionMarch 25th DevotionMarch 26th DevotionMarch 27th DevotionMarch 28th DevotionMarch 29th Devotion
April
April 1str DevotionApril 2nd DevotionApril 3rd DevotionApril 4th DevotionApril 5th DevotionApril 8th DevotionApril 9th DevotionApril 10th DevotionApril 11th DevotionApril 12th DevotionApril 15th DevotionApril 16th DevotionApril 17th DevotionApril 18th DevotionApril 19th DevotionApril 22nd devotionApril 23rd DevotionApril 24th DevotionApril 25th DevotionApril 26th DevotionApril 29th DevotionApril 30th Devotion
No Comments