Daniel 3 is one of the most powerful stories of courage under fire in the whole Bible. 

Courage under fire conjures up war stories where soldiers in the face of enormous odds stood up to the enemy to save their mates, or defend their ground as required by the battle plan. Many of these soldiers did not survive, but unlikely outcomes were achieved as their mates were saved, or a strategic battleground was defended which changed the course of the battle. 

In this story, the battleground to be defended was God’s honour, and the 3 friends were required to worship the king to avoid being literally consumed by fire. Their extraordinary faith was famously flaunted when they uttered the toughest riposte to any challenge by the enemy – “God will deliver us from the blazing furnace, but even if he does not, we will not worship the gold image.” 

These brave individuals achieved glory by honouring God and survived, but many do not as the many martyrs even in our time testify. Most of us will never be asked to pay the ultimate price, but there are many opportunities for us Christians to put our hands up for God in the face of a culture with an increasingly anti-Christian bent. 

I remember a line from a movie where after the lead character uttered undying devotion to his romantic interest, she said “the road ahead may get very stormy, will you go there with me?” That is the question we need to answer – when times are dark and friends are few, will you go there with God? 

I love that encouraging verse that says “Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross.” That joy was bringing many people to glory, into his forever family. Just before he died for us, Jesus also prayed that his followers would receive the full measure of his joy. Let’s ask God today to give us the full measure of his joy which will enable us to withstand any trial. 

Sean Kluyts