Navigating Uncertaintyعينة

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in big trouble! They had refused to worship the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and were cast into the furnace, which was so hot that even the soldiers who threw them into it were burnt up! To Nebuchadnezzar's amazement, the three men were not burnt up, but they were joined by a fourth person who looked to Nebuchadnezzar like "a son of the gods," and the three emerged unscathed. Nebuchadnezzar was only half wrong - the fourth person wasn't "a son of the gods," but I believe that the person Nebuchadnezzar saw was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus - the Son of God. When trouble and hardship come, we often think God has abandoned us, which is why the trouble has come. We tend to think God's presence should guarantee the absence of trouble; therefore, trouble signifies God's absence. The Bible teaches us something different. When trouble comes into our lives: \- God is not on the sidelines watching, \- He is not stoking up the furnace, \- He's not standing in judgment on us like Nebuchadnezzar arguing that we deserve what we get. \---- No! He's there with us - in the fire - bringing us through.