Daniel 3 v 14-30

Have you ever known a time when somebody has promised you that they will be there for you in a particularly difficult situation only for you to discover that when the chips are down and you actually need them to show up, they are nowhere to be found? Hold that thought!

I love this particular passage very much and I think that my favourite bit of the story is verse 24-25 where King Nebuchadnezzar peers into the furnace, does his sums and realises that there is one extra person in the furnace and this person is described as being “like a son of the gods!”

 These men are in a truly horrendous situation because of their faith and obedience and isn’t it interesting that God doesn’t tell them simply to grin and bear it and that He will touch base with them if or when they crawl out on the other side? God is actually present with them in the midst of the furnace bringing them His comfort, peace and strength and an assurance of His power that is bigger than the situation in which they find themselves.

When we are facing difficult times we can often forget that God does more than just tell us that we are suffering for His glory and to put on our best stiff upper lips and get on with the task; He will be with us in our hardest times and in that knowledge we can know that we don’t need to face any situation alone.

Revd Robert Legge