Uncertainty -- The Door God May Open

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were contemporaries of Daniel. They, too, were selected to serve as advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar. Though they served him well, they infuriated the king when they refused to bow down to the god he had crafted. The king gave them the choice to either bow before his idol or be thrown into a blazing furnace. All three of them chose the fire. Daniel brought us to the climax of the conflict and recorded his friends' extraordinary response, "O 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" [Dan. 3:16-18].

Like Jonathan, the three men knew who God was, and they were confident of what God could do. They also knew that they didn't know if He would save them. They understood the uncertainty, but their course of action would be the same in either case. We are told that the furnace was then heated seven times hotter than normal. Nebuchadnezzar's strongest soldiers tied the three and then prepared to throw them into the furnace. The fire was so hot it consumed the king's soldiers. Finally, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fell through the door into the fire.

I am sure that was one door they wish that God had closed rather than left open:) I cannot imagine that they did not wish for God to take them a different way. What must have seemed to them as their last moment would become their greatest moment. The fire did not consume them. A fourth man met them in the midst of the fire. God met them there. They went to a place they could never go alone and live. God took them on an adventure where not even a king dared journey. When the king invited them to return, they stepped out of the fire. Though they were now out of danger, they were more dangerous than ever! The door we fear going through the most may be the very one where we will meet God most profoundly.

It is ironic that we run to God to keep us safe when He calls us to a dangerous faith. He will shake loose everything in which we place our trust outside of Him and teach us how to thrive in a future unknown. There is only One who is certain; everything else exists in the realm of uncertainty. To place our trust in anything other than God is nothing less than superstition.