From generation to generation there are history changing moments that have forever altered our nations course…moments we often ask, “Where were you when…?” For my grandparents it was Pearl Harbor, for my parents it was has man’s first steps on the moon, for my generation it was the terrorist’s attacks of 9/11. We might now add the COVID 19 epidemic to this historic list.
COVID 19 has brought the world to a screeching halt and the headlines are dominated by fear. A recent google search for the word fear in the news googled fear in news headlines rendered 318 million hits. We are faced with a situation that we have no control over and there are many unknowns.
I currently sit in quarantine (due to recent travel) and I must confess there is fear in my heart. I am concerned for my family and their health. I am concerned for their safety because in times of crisis mankind can behave poorly. My biggest fear is that my family faces this scary time without me present.
The good news is that in the midst of my fear, I know that God is Good, and God is in control. Daniel 3:1-30 records the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their encounter with the “Fiery Furnace.” These men knew and understood fear.
Shad and the boys were men of God and were also slaves to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a statue of himself that measured 90 feet high and demanded the people of the city bow to the statue whenever special music was played; the punishment for not bowing down was death in a furnace used to melt gold. Shad and the boys refused to bow down to the idol or the king; when faced with the fear of death in the fiery furnace Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told 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, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Shad and the boys faced life and death with a determined faith. Their message to the king was powerful, God will deliver us, or He might not but God alone is in control and worthy of worship. In the midst of chaos Shad and the boys chose to focus on the rock of their immutable God.
In the end, Shad and the boys were thrown into the “Fiery Furnace;” and God was there by their side and God delivered them from the flames. They emerged from the flames unscathed and were a testimony to God’s power.
Today the world finds itself in the midst a seemingly fiery furnace. The corona virus has everyone scared. The news touts mayhem. You may even ask yourself where is God in the midst of the chaos. I assure you God is where he has always been and that is by your side. Just as God walked into the furnace with Shad and the boys, he also walks by your side in these trying times.
Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Daniel 3:25 reads, “He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’” Many scholars believe the fourth man in the furnace is a Christophony (a physical appearance of God before his incarnation).
The Chaplain's Anvil 