I wonder what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were talking about in the furnace. Surely there was a point at which they had been in there long enough to be expected dead, someone checked in and saw them still perfectly alive. Knowing their job would be at risk if this went wrong, they must have waited a little longer just to be sure they were still alive. And also question how another one got in there. They had to wait even longer to make it up through the ranks to someone high enough to speak to the king, call him away from whatever he was doing to also look in and wonder, how are they still alive? I’m sure they sat a moment in the mystery trying to decide how to proceed before they made their way back down the ranks to let the men out of the fire.
I’m not sure how long that would have taken, given the process, probably at least a few hours. That’s a long time to sit around in a fire 7x hotter than usually used to instantaneously crisp a human. So during all of this, what were they talking about? Were they talking or was there silence? Did they feel the heat at all? Was it uncomfortable or just slightly inconvenient? Did they even see it as an inconvenience?
I’m near positive they weren’t worried in the slightest. I’m sure they didn’t waste time begging God to save them. Because they already knew. And when Jesus showed up there with them, what then? They probably didn’t expect Him to literally show up the way He did. Were they in awestruck silence or did they ask all their hardest questions? My only thought is that fire was filled with praise. From entrance to exit.
What are your fires filled with?
Those extended waits, the ones filled with so much pain, the testing and the attacks all rolled up in one. Is it filled with worry or hope? Do you have hope enough to believe the victory is already won? That your God can and will save you? Even if it takes longer than a few hours. Even if you don’t have access to the next page of the story.
At some point in the waiting, Shadrach must have had a thought of doubt, Meshach had to have gotten impatient and Abednego probably thought of a way to get out themselves. But instead, they sat and waited. They chose out of control and worry and chose into trust. And Jesus showed up. Because that’s what He does. Our God shows up every time. Especially in the waiting.
One of my new favourite words I’ve learned in spanish is esperar. It means to wait. It’s also wildly close to the word esperanza, which is to hope. It’s this idea that in the waiting we live expectantly. In the fire we have hope and we wait with joy in our hearts knowing there is more on the other side, more we don’t understand and it’s so much bigger than us. On the other side of the fire, a powerful king met Jesus. Because of their waiting, a nation gained new hope.
Waiting isn’t a hopeless or stagnant state. It’s an active expectancy. When your waiting is filled with hope, when you know that you know God is bigger than all of it, there is a beautiful worship about waiting on Him. Sometimes He’ll ask you to fight, other times the greatest fight you have is simply worship in the waiting.
When Paul was in Jail, when Daniel was in the den, when Jesus was in the tomb, there wasn’t worry or stagnance, there was active praise and living worship. They did not simply wait for the end of their trouble. They continued to hope and praise through it all.
We know Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown in the furnace and released again. But before all this there was an important conversation, where Nebecanezar thinks himself merciful giving one last chance with the threat of the fire. He asks directly who will save them. And in all the confidence and authority of known Sons of the The Most High, they say “Our God can and will deliver us, but if not, we will still follow Him.”
But if not. Will you still follow Him? If all your hope is in something, the life you know is on the line, will you still hold to hope?
It’s far easier said than done, but I hope so. Because what’s on the other side is far bigger than you. The fire you’re in now, He sees it all and He knows what’s coming. He hasn’t left you or abandoned you. And the more you fill your waiting with praise, He will show up. He is in this with you.
These past few months have taken a lot of trust. I’ve been wrestling with knowledge and control and hope. I’ve felt hard things, seen hard things, heard even harder things and my flesh wants out. I want to see the end of this fire. But this process has been so good. He has shown up with me, reminded me to meet Him in the waiting and shown me the goodness behind every battle. He has been teaching me the power of radical hope. A hope that doesn’t make any sense, but holds strong in my spirit.
I know my God can and will deliver me. So I’ll sit in the fire a little longer, I’ll hold on tight to hope, I’ll fill the darkness with praise until the light shows up. I know it will. I get to sit in this waiting and trust His process. He has shown up and will continue to every single day. But if not, but if my hope isn’t met, I still know He’s worth all of it. Because this battle is far bigger than me and I trust Him completely. These fires burn bright with hope. It’s big, it’s hard, it’s worth it. Esperar. The fire ends.
