No Evidence!

July 20, 2007

Each of your remembers the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three men who were put in the fiery furnace because they refused to worship a pagan god. The following is a line from that story, actually the punch line: “. . . the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them” (Daniel 3:27b). To say the least, the pagan god lost to the One True God and everyone knew it; however, I must point out that there is a significant difference between knowing who the One True God is before hand and in knowing who He is after the fact, especially if you are one of those about to be thrown into the fire.

To be honest, I am not surprised that these three men survived the fire because I truly believe that God is in charge every time and all the time; however, I am amazed at the fact that they came out of the furnace without even trace evidence that they had been in it—the fire had no effect on their bodies, their hair was not singed, their clothing was not burned, and to top it all, they didn’t even smell like smoke. Why does this amaze me? It does so because I have never seen it happen, at least not that I remember!

Sure, I have seen many people survive a “trial by fire” but without exception (in my experience) they have all (including yours truly) at the very least “smelled like smoke” when the came out of the furnace. You see, we not only want others to know that we have survived the fire, we want the battle scars, the evidence, at least the “smell of smoke” to prove to them our ability to endure and of course to gain their sympathy. Actually, what we want is for others to value us, to esteem us, to love us, to accept us, so much so that it is as if we think the “trial by fire” was a complete waste, if we do not have evidence of the intensity of the struggle to show to others and to, thereby, find acceptance.

This reminds me of what Jesus said about fasting: “And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men but by your Father who sees in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:16-18).

Somehow, His ways are simply not our ways; as difficult as it is, make it your business to keep some things to yourself, especially if you really want acceptance. You might be surprised at the result—

Just reminding you of what He said . . .