Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” - Daniel 3:24-25

Reading these words again made me teary-eyed. I love Daniel. I remember learning about him when I was younger, along with all the other Biblical characters. I always esteemed them as a kid—you know, the Samsons, the Jacobs, Abrahams, Solomons, Noahs, Davids, and Moses. Until I got older and began to see their flaws in every story. Then altogether they stopped becoming my heroes.

But Daniel was different. He seemed faithful throughout the entire narrative, never needed to make a life-altering mistake or rebel to know that Adonai is the one true God and this is His universe. And so secretly in my heart, I’ve looked up to him and have wanted to be like him.

In the above passage, Nebuchadnezzar throws Daniel’s friends–Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego–into a furnace because they refuse to bow down to a golden statue in his image. But then everything changes when Jesus Himself shows up in the furnace with them. Can you imagine? 

As awe-inspiring as this is, I’ve been taken back that God let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be thrown into the furnace to begin with, just like He allowed Nebuchadnezzar later in chapter 6 to throw Daniel into the lions’ den. 

But I read a story like this, one where God came through, one where He did it–the grand miracle remembered for ages to come not unlike so many He’s done before–and I’ve wondered why there are some instances where He doesn’t. 

I can’t answer this question. Can’t tell why some survive and some don’t. Can’t say why He does miracles in some instances and doesn’t in others. Can’t dictate how He moves any more than I can control the wind, and I certainly can’t predict His timing.

It turns out, I can’t seem to box Him in no matter how hard I try.

But having navigated grief of my own, I can say with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18).”

And still, with more confidence that He truly is the fourth man in the fire, and He somehow never fails.

Because we know we live in a greater spiritual reality today: that is, Jesus Himself, Immanuel, God with us always. 

And so for every furnace, we know there is a fourth man, just as for every lion’s den, one who appears like the Son of God alongside His people, just as all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).