March 20 – Daniel 3:1-30
Request: Lord, please show us what remaining details you want to reveal to us about the courage of friendship. Help us set aside hurts and pains from the past and see the gift friendship truly is, especially when it’s grounded in You.
Read: Daniel 3:1-30 again. It’s a short story that holds so much truth for us with the value of friendships and includes a miracle of epic proportions. It’s exciting to read.
Record: Record a key verse.
Respond: Write a prayer responding to God about the verse you just read. Let’s not just pick a verse and move on. Let’s interact with God about it.
Question to Ponder: What’s your favorite part of this story? How does it speak to you?
My Ponder:
I love how steadfast all three of these friends were in their faith, and their bond was so tight that they were willing to walk into a fire. And then God doesn’t just deliver them from the fire. He adds to their bond by having an angel come and walk in their midst. It’s like He honored their friendship by adding more to it. I can’t even imagine.
My Verse: Daniel 3:29, “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
My Response: God, I pray that the friendships I have and our faithfulness to you speak so loudly that others want to know you.
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My verse: Daniel 3:25 “‘Look!’ Nebuchadnezzar shouted, ‘I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!'”
My response: First of all … of course Nebuchadnezzar shouted. He’s a very volatile man. His rage was so intense against the three friends that he actually sat down to watch them be burned alive. (Blech. Who would DO that??) He was so mad he wanted to see them die before his own eyes. I can’t imagine.
But what stood out to me, is that our three guys went into that furnace tied up. And it was while they were in the furnace that they became unbound, unfettered, freely walking around.
Father God, this is so beautiful! In the space of deepest terror in our lives, You walk with us and take off all that keeps us shackled. Superfluous stuff falls away, as we focus on You alone, unbound and finally unafraid. The fear of the fire was worse than the reality because YOU were there in it. Thank You, Lord, for being with us in the hardest times and setting us free right there in the furnace.
I think that has ended up being my biggest takeaway.