by Charles Sibthorpe
My mother is 97 years old, and her short term memory is not what is was, which sometimes means conversation is difficult and can easily dry up. However she loves to hear me read the Bible, and clearly recalls many events from scripture. I was visiting her last week when she suddenly said, “I do love the story of the fourth man in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.” So I turned it up and read out the account of the amazing deliverance of these three stalwarts. This then led to a great conversation about the way God can come into the most extreme situations.
I have been thinking further about this – here we have three men who loved God and were not willing to compromise their faith. They held to their beliefs, would not bow to the golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar, and found themselves being thrown into the blazing furnace. But God stepped in and joined them in the middle of the fire. Are you in the middle of a furnace, because of your stand for righteousness and unwillingness to compromise? Well, God is still in the business of walking into blazing furnaces and rescuing his people.
When the disciples were in a dilemma because they could not deliver the demon possessed boy who had been brought to them, Jesus came down from the mountain, walked into the middle and rescued them from their plight. The distraught father turned to Jesus and said, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” At the moment of despair Jesus stepped into the middle and determined the predicament. Are you in crisis? Let Jesus step into the middle and resolve your crisis.
After the resurrection the disciples were in turmoil, some of them had seen Jesus, but most of them were fearful and doubting. The account in Luke’s gospel says, "While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Are you in a place of fear and turmoil? Let Jesus come into your dilemma and bring you his peace.
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