“He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
(Daniel 3:25)
This passage gives one of the sweetest displays in all of Scripture of Christ’s gracious presence with His suffering people. These three faithful servants were cast into the furnace because they would not bow to idolatry. Bound and thrown into the flames, they seemed destined for destruction. Yet when the king looked into the furnace, he saw not three men but four—and the fourth was like the Son of God.
Here is a matter of wonderful thanksgiving: Christ does not forsake His people in their extremities.[1] He may permit them to enter the furnace, but then He enters it with them. He does not always spare us from trial, but He always sustains us in it. The presence of Christ in suffering transforms the furnace from a place of destruction into a place of fellowship.
This is the pattern of God’s dealings with His saints. Joseph was in prison, but the Lord was with him. Paul and Silas were in stocks, but they sang at midnight. Martyrs entered prisons and flames with joy because the presence of Christ outweighed the bitterness of their sufferings. What makes affliction tolerable, and often even sweet, is not the removal of pain but the nearness of Christ within it.
Christ’s presence in the furnace also reveals His covenant faithfulness. He does not stand at a distance while His people suffer. He draws nearest when earthly help is farthest. When the church is lowest, Christ is closest. He is not ashamed to be found with His people in their reproach, their grief, their persecution, and their affliction.
Moreover, the text says they were loose in the fire. The flames that should have consumed them instead burned away their bonds. So often God uses affliction to free His people as well, to burn away earthly attachments, sinful comforts, false confidences, and fleshly dependence. In short, He uses the furnace to sanctify us.
This gives reason for thanksgiving even in the midst of our trials, because to have the Son of God in the furnace with us is better than to be without Him in a palace. Indeed, maybe our greatest comfort in suffering is not that it will end, but that Christ will be with us through it.
Contemplations:
- Thankful for Christ’s Nearness in Suffering. Lord Jesus, thank You that You draw near to Your people in their afflictions and make Your presence known in their darkest hours. When earthly comforts fail, Your fellowship remains, and Your nearness in suffering is sweeter than the world’s comforts in ease.
- Thankful That Affliction Cannot Destroy the Saint. Father, I am thankful that no furnace can consume those whom You preserve. Trials may wound my pride and shake my confidence, but they cannot destroy my soul. You govern every flame, limit every sorrow, and keep every affliction under Your sovereign hand.
- Thankful That Trials Burn Away Bonds. Lord, thank You for using suffering not merely to test me, but to sanctify me. The fire that threatens to hurt often loosens what binds. Through affliction You burn away pride, worldliness, self-confidence, and false dependence. I am grateful that even painful providences serve Your holy purposes.
- Thankful for Christ Above All Earthly Comforts. Father, I thank You that Christ is my greatest consolation. Better to have Him in hardship than all worldly comforts without Him. Better His presence in sorrow than earthly ease in spiritual distance. Teach me to value communion with Christ above every temporal blessing.
Prayer (Thanksgiving)
Gracious and faithful God, I thank You for the glorious comfort that Your Son is present with His people in the midst of their trials. When the furnace is heated, Christ walks with His saints in the fire.
I thank You that no affliction comes to me apart from Your wise and fatherly hand. Every trial is measured by Your wisdom, limited by Your power, and governed by Your love. Nothing reaches me except what You ordain for my good and Your glory.
I thank You that Christ is nearest when earthly comforts are fewest. In sorrow, weakness, persecution, grief, and distress, You often make Your presence known most sweetly. You have shown that the furnace may be hot, but Your fellowship is sweeter still.
I thank You that affliction serves to sanctify as well as test. The flames that trouble me often burn away what binds me. Through suffering You loosen my grip on the world, humble my pride, expose my idols, and teach me dependence upon You. I praise You that You waste no pain in the lives of Your people.
And I am thankful that no trial can separate me from Christ. Fire cannot consume what You preserve. Waters cannot drown those whom You uphold. Enemies cannot destroy what You defend. Even death itself cannot separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Teach me to thank You not only after deliverance, but in the midst of trial. Let me learn to prize Christ’s presence above earthly ease, and to count communion with Him greater than outward comfort.
Let my heart bless You for every furnace in which Christ has met me, every sorrow through which You have sustained me, and every trial by which You have drawn me nearer to Yourself.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Further Scripture References for Dan. 3:25:
Dan. 3:28; Matt. 4:3; Dan. 7:13; Mark 15:39
[1] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 5 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1867), 460-462.
