Through the fire and the flood

We all love a good rescue story. Whether a movie or book, there is nothing better than sitting on the edge of our seats, following the story as the suspense builds up. Hoping that the hero will not be too late. Hoping that everything will work out, the rescuer will manage the impossible and that the ending will be all that we hoped for.

As people with normal emotions, we tend to migrate to the feel-good stories. The rescue that happened at the right time. The sickness was healed miraculously, and suffering was avoided. The happy-ever-after where life just works out perfectly with no hair singed and no losses occurred.

As much as it seems unrealistic, that is what we hope for in this world. Not because we want to live in an unrealistic, fictional world, but because we hate suffering and pain. That is not a bad thing, that is how our creator has made us and finetuned us. 

As believers in a living God that is active in our world, a God with the saving power of a million Supermen, maybe even more, it is sometimes even harder. We know that our God can rescue us or our loved ones with one word. Afterall, He did create all of creation with only His spoken Word. We’ve read the miracles and wonders in the Old and New Testaments. So, we know what He can do. The question that plagues many Christians is why. Why did our rescuer not rescue us, why did our loved one have to suffer, even after all the prayers? Sad to say many Christians have fallen away because most of the time those questions are never answered.

Early in the 2000’s a Christian band called Tree63 popularized a song called: 

‘Blessed be Your Name’

Blessed be Your name

 In the land that is plentiful

 Where your streams of abundance flow

 Blessed be Your name

 Blessed be Your name

 When I'm found in the desert place

 Though I walk through the wilderness

 Blessed be Your name

 Every blessing You pour out

 I'll turn back to praise

 When the darkness closes in, Lord

 Still, I will say

 Blessed be the name of the Lord

The lyrics of the song were very powerful when I heard it for the first time because it challenged me in my walk with the Lord. Can I truly say Blessed be Your Name, even in the desert place, when I walk through the wilderness? We all know it is easy to praise God in the times that are plentiful, when the world is all that it's supposed to be, when we run on the mountaintops and the valley of the shadow of death is far below us.

The Bible tells us of some amazing rescue stories, but these stories, even though they are amazing, still can leave us a little unsettled when we consider them a bit deeper, and when we think of the feelings and emotions that surely had to go along with the rescue story.

There are many stories that we can go to, but today I would like to focus on two very powerful rescues.

First is a story from the book of Daniel. Now we know that the book of Daniel shares quite a couple of amazing rescue stories, but we will only focus on the blazing furnace. What a rescue that was!

The story is found in Daniel 3:1-30. Please read the story for yourself if you aren’t familiar with it.

The great king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had commanded a statue to be built. He then went ahead and demanded everyone in the kingdom to bow down before the statue when the musicians played their instruments, with a promise of death in a blazing furnace if they refused to bow down.

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were 3 friends who lived in Babylon as exiles from Judea. They heard the instructions regarding the statue and decided not to bow down to the statue, as their faith demanded that they bow only before their God Yahweh. Needless to say, the King was not impressed by their attitude. He demanded their obedience to the threat of punishment. Well, our three friends gave their well-known answer in verses 16-18: “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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.”

In his anger, the king demanded the furnace heat be increased, and these friends be thrown into the fire. On the way, even the soldiers fell and died because of the intense heat. Can you imagine anything that hot? Well, these three young men endured it, all the way into the actual furnace! Not once did they turn around and go back to the king to ask for leniency. Neither was there any rescue from the God in whom they placed their trust.

Just imagine for yourself as they walk this path to the furnace, and the soldiers are dropping dead around them. As the heat intensifies, I can just imagine their thoughts; “maybe now God will save us”, but still no rescue. Then they get to the entrance; “Surely God will rescue us before we go into the actual fire”, still no rescue. Then the moment happened where they had to step into the fire. Were they scared, anxious, or maybe sad that God hadn’t rescued them as they knew He could? Imagine stepping into that fire…

Then suddenly everything changes! God rescues them inside of the fire. He sends a rescuer into the fire to be with them. He didn’t take them out of the fire. He protected them in the fire. Only when the king called them to come out, did they walk out of the fire. I think this is an amazing rescue, but I truly believe it could only happen because the three friends didn’t give in to any anxious thought of what if. They already stated their position: But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods.

What about you dear friend? Will you continue to say ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’ even when it seems no rescue is coming?

The second story that the Holy Spirit has put on my heart is the story of Lazarus.

The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead is in John 11:1-44. Please read this story for yourself if you haven’t read it before, or you haven’t read it recently.

I won’t go into much detail, most of us know this story very well. The important part of the story is that Jesus knew that Lazarus was very ill. Yet He waited. The sisters, Mary and Martha knew that Jesus could heal Lazarus. They have seen Him do it before. Yet Jesus didn’t heal him. Why, why would He wait? He could have saved them from the anguish of seeing their brother die. He could have saved Lazarus from the agony of dying. Yet He waited? Did He wait because he knew that Lazarus would die, and He would raise Him from the dead and receive the awe and amazement of such a miracle? Was it a grand plan to give more proof of His claim to be God’s son?

It almost sounds sacrilegious to even say that. So please hear my heart. I’m just looking at this story from different angles. In no way do I believe we serve an egotistical, self-centered God who is always searching for the next opportunity to wow us with His might and power. I do however believe that every story recorded in the Bible is there to teach us who God truly is. Every story has the power to transform our lives and help us have better insight and understanding of the nature of God and His interaction with His people.

In the miracle of Lazarus Jesus showed His obedience to His Father. I believe that Jesus waited because the Holy Spirit instructed Him to wait. Remember in the story of the centurion whose servant was very ill (Matthew 8)? Jesus spoke a word and the servant was healed, even though He wasn’t anywhere near the servant. No hands were laid on him. So, Jesus was able to heal Lazarus at a distance, He didn’t even need to be next to him.

In John 5:30 He says: I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. That means when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill His decision to wait was an instruction that He received from the Holy Spirit.

From the passage in John, we know that after two days Jesus decided to go to Bethany where Lazarus and his sisters lived. As He entered the people were quick to inform Him that He was too late and that Lazarus had died. From verse 11 we know that Jesus knew that Lazarus had died long before they informed, He told His disciples that He was going to wake Him up.

As we continue to read this fascinating account, we see both Mary and Martha approaching Jesus with frustration: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” How often do we approach Jesus with that same frustration when our situation becomes dire?

Even in this unspeakably sad situation Mary and Martha voiced their complete trust in Jesus, no matter the outcome of their story.

As they were on the way to show Jesus where they have laid Lazarus, something truly astounding happens in verse 35: Jesus wept. Why did he weep? Why was He so moved with compassion that He wept? Didn’t He know the outcome of the story? Of course He did, but that didn’t mean He didn’t have compassion for the difficult situation they were going through. He was feeling their anguish, and He was in the situation with them.

As in the story of the 3 friends in the fire, Lazarus had to die. The plan was always to rescue Lazarus, but as we saw in Jesus weeping it was by no means an easy and straightforward plan. These two stories show me the heart of God. A compassionate and caring God. A loving God who wants to run in and rescue us from all our troubles, but He is also a wise God who knows so much more than what we do. As Isaiah puts it so eloquently, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

The impact of these two stories cannot be underestimated. In the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the great king of Babylon witnesses a miracle with his own eyes and declares for all to hear: “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

In the story of Lazarus, the people who came to support Mary and Martha saw what happened and they believed in Jesus:  Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Today I want to encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. It is only in Him that we have hope. He is unchanging and able to do exceedingly more than what we can ask or hope. The challenge is however, will you be able to say: 'When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord.'

Let us continue to live with the hope of what Jesus can and wants to do in our circumstances, but with the knowledge that He doesn’t always do what we want Him to do, and His answer isn’t always the answer we want to hear…Blessed be the Name of the Lord.