Iron Sharpens Iron, Men Strengthen Men

How has your week been? If you’re like me, you are in the middle of the storm and working hard just to keep the ship going straight. Does that sound familiar? I was reminded of something earlier that I think may be of some strength to you if you are in that storm I mentioned. I also feel compelled to write this directly to those of you who need to hear this today. You know who you are.

Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? This is the great story in the Bible in the Book of  Daniel chapter 3 about these young men who were a part of the conquering of Israel by Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. They came to Babylon as slaves but with higher positions due to their intelligence and previous standing in Israel. The problem for them was that Nebuchadnezzar issued a command that everyone in his kingdom was required to worship an image made of gold when they blew the trumpets and these 3 young men refused to do so.

So the king had these young men brought before him and threatened them with death by the fiery furnace if they did not comply. Their response was incredible. With great faith, they told him that “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand oh King”. As you can imagine, this upset the King so much that he had the furnace heated 7 times hotter than normal to ensure they were destroyed. In fact, the furnace was so hot that the guards who threw them in were killed.

But here is the key to the story and what I wanted to share with you today which is the title to this post. First, they did not die when they went in but rather just stood there marveling at what was happening. More importantly, however, King Nebuchadnezzar noticed there was another one in the fire with them. Instead of 3 men, there were now 4. Jesus himself came and stood with these boys in the midst of what should have been sure death but instead…they were saved.

Guys, that is the single point I wanted to convey to you today. They were saved JUST like you can be. No matter what you are in the middle of, there is another one in the fire with you today. And I can say with absolute confidence that you are NOT alone on your journey. I encourage you to hold on today to these words today that He is with you in your fire, standing at your side.

I understand though…when you don’t see Him physically and sometimes you don’t feel Him it is easy to think you’re alone…and those feelings are real and they can cause your faith to weaken to where you become vulnerable to the enemy’s lies.

My words to you are hold on. Keep pounding on heaven’s doors because there is another one in the fire with you…right in the middle of the storm and chaos that is around you. Don’t give in to the enemy…resist and hang on to the words of Christ.

Remember this…no matter what happens in this world, all of the bad things and the struggles of this life…we are told to take heart because He has OVERCOME the world. He has already won the battle for you…you just have to believe that.

Until next time Guys-