In The Fire

"I'm Rack I'm Shack I'm Benny

We work here in the plant. We'd like to take a break, for goodness sake, but Mr. Nezzer says, you can't. We all need a vacation. Our schedule is severe We're getting very tired but stopping gets us fired, so we'll have to stay right here." - Veggietales- Rack, Shack and Benny

If you were a Christian kid in the 90's, you have probably heard this song and can still sing all the lyrics. If not, this song is from the Veggietales adaptation of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego up against Nebuchadnezzar and his fiery furnace. If I had to pick a favorite bible story from scripture, this one would definitely be near the top. This story is about 3 men who stood up for what they believed in, even in the face of death. Again, if you have seen this show, there has probably just popped into your head another classic song. "Stand Up, Stand up. For what you believe in, Believe in, Believe in God. He's the one to back you up. He'll stand with you." Don't deny it. I know you are humming along to it right now. 

Let me lay out the context for this story before I get completely off track. The story begins in Daniel chapter 3 with Nebuchadnezzar deciding to build a grand statue made of gold, standing over 90 feet tall and 9 foot across. "And the herald proclaimed aloud, 'You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of instrument, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace'. Side note, did you catch that the herald included bagpipes with the other instruments. This King is not messing around here. Anyway, the music plays, the people bow and begin to worship. Except for 3 Israelite dudes. You guessed it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Well word gets to the king that these 3 guys aren't bowing. Naturally, Nebuchadnezzar is furious. So he commands his men to bring them to him. The King tells the men that he will give them another chance. He will have the music play again, and they can then bow and everything will be forgotten. But the young men won't stand for that. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. But even if he doesn't, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Talk about faith right here. These men are walking into this fire with the full belief that God will save them, but they also know the importance of standing firm on their beliefs, even unto death. Even if He doesn't.... No matter what the king can throw at them, nothing will put doubt in their hearts that god will not come through for them  

So the King decides to test their theory and he commands the fire to be heated 7 times hotter then normal. His men tie up the men and he tells his strongest men to push them in. The Fire is so hot, the kings men are burned up in a second while Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are pushed inside. After the shock of seeing his men burnt to a crisp, Nebuchadnezzar looks into the furnace to see not only the Israelites walking around, but there is a fourth "Son of God" in appearance man with them. Realizing that the men have not been affected by the fire, he calls them out of the furnace. The soldiers examine the three men and do not even smell smoke on their clothes, which, by the way, were not scorched in the least. Nebuchadnezzar realizes that it was the God Almighty who saved these men. "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. who sent his angel and delivered his servants, and trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god beside their own God.

The life of a Christian is one that brings many fiery furnaces. Is your faith in the place it should be to be able to endure those flames? Standing up to the King will not be easy. But believing through will always be way more satisfying. 

We still serve a God of the Even If... A God who asks us to trust him, even if things don't go like we hoped. Who asks us to give up our life in the face of death rather than serving something else. Are you ready to trust God through life's Even If's... ? Let us take a stand for what we know is truth and let nothing hinder us from serving God with all that is in us.

"When you don't move the mountains, I needed you you to move.When you don't part the waters, I wish I could walk through. When you don't give the answers, as I cry out to you. I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You."- Lauren Daigle- Trust In You

Adam Semple- A young man on a mission from God.

opening from Veggietales- Rack, Shack and Benny