Never Alone

It would have been easy for the Hebrew teenagers Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to think that God may have forgotten about them. The king had given a decree that everyone should fall down and worship a golden image he had erected of himself. When certain music was played, everyone in the kingdom was ordered to lie prostrate in worship. But there, standing up defiantly like three sore thumbs, were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was teenage rebellion channeled in the right direction.

The king, however, didn’t like their rebelling. He was so enraged that he ordered his guards to heat the furnace seven times hotter. The heat was so intense that when the guards took the three Hebrew teenagers to the brink of the furnace, they were overcome by the flames and died.

But the king took a hard look, and inside he saw four, not three, individuals walking around in the fire. Where was God in all of this? He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace.

We always say, “Lord, get me out of this. Keep me from problems, Lord.” But the Lord is saying, “There are times when I will answer that prayer, and there are times when I will walk with you through the hard days. But know this: I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Being a Christian doesn’t mean you never will have another problem. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that life will be easy. But it does mean a lot of things. It means you never will be alone again, no matter what you face in life. You will have Jesus Christ there with you, interceding for you, helping you, and walking with you through it. Sometimes God delivers us from the trial, and sometimes He delivers us in it.