What’s been your most freeing experience? Not many of us would think of a prison cell. Certainly, none of us would jump right to the experience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego. Scripture points to spiritual freedom in some fantastic ways in this narrative.
First, the physical bondage shows us that the will of God is far worthier than the “freedoms” of the world. As the boys testify, they obey God rather than tyrants because they know peace with God means true freedom: God is able to save, and His glory will be demonstrated even if His will is to take the boys home (Daniel 4:17).
Second, the bondage the boys experience is broken through the trials they face. God uses the trial in a supernatural way; He burns through the ties constraining His people, leaving the boys walking freely in the fires as they experience God with them—to the astonishment of worldly tyranny (Daniel 4:25).
Third, the worldly freedom comes with proof of their spiritual deliverance. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego walk out of the fires not even the royal guards could withstand, yet they come out with neither a singe nor a scent of their worldly torment (Daniel 4:27). Nothing of the world distracted their worship of the God who walked with them in the furnace—even the One whose right it was to permit them to suffer in the fire. The boys’ spiritual preservation was proven in their physical experience in a miraculous manner.
There is far more could be said in this story, of course. But for us today, spiritual freedom means having the Spirit-led tenacity to not simply accept difficulties, but use those difficulties with the expectation that our God is with us. Nothing can keep Him from using the challenges in our lives, and nothing can keep His children from maturing and growing in sanctification. Therefore, let us smell the smoke but not smell like smoke! Even if we’re thrown in the thick of it, let us choose to ask God for growth with our hands outstretched.
Pastor Chris
Leave a Reply