On the Furnace...

By Marjorie Kinnee
Editorial

Text: Daniel 3:1-30

In Daniel, chapter three, we find the story of the three Hebrew children and their adventure with a fiery furnace. You probably first heard it when you were a small child. It's been told and retold by pastors, preachers, parents, and teachers ever since. It's about three young men in a trying situation and an angry king whose will was crossed. Holding on was going to cost each of them something. There, at the intersection of unbending faith and an unbendable will, friction built; resulting in a fiery furnace which melted and purged the unbendable - and - purified and sanctified the unbending.

"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10) The Bible has much to say about furnaces, fiery trials, rods of correction, refining, purging, purifying, and the holy purpose behind such measures. Here are some things we can observe about the work of furnaces...

• Furnaces may be stoked to incredible temperatures by fury and vengeance. (Daniel 3:19)
• Furnaces may be lethal for their stokers and feeders. (Daniel 3:22)
• Furnaces are instruments of change and correction. (Job 5:17; Psalm 66:10; Hebrews 12:6)
• By design, furnaces can only destroy things of earth. (Job 28:1-2; Luke 3:17; I Corinthians 3:13-15)
• Furnaces purge things which are not good. (Psalm 79:9; Isaiah 1:25; II Timothy 2:19-21)
• Furnaces purify things which are good. (Proverbs 25:4; Malachi 3:2-3)
• Furnaces create an atmosphere of extreme discomfort, and thereby, the desire for change. (Psalm 17:3; 119:119-120; Jonah 2:7)
• Furnaces make what's being changed cry out during the process. (Jonah 2:1; Zechariah 13:9)
• Furnaces are not hell - though they may feel like it. (Jonah 2:2; Hebrews 12:25-29)
• Furnaces are a temporary measure, used at a specific time and season, for a specific purpose; but the fire doesn't go out until its work is complete. (II Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:11)
• Total submission to the will of God, (whether it be through the furnace of affliction, fiery trials, or chastening,) brings the confidence to speak faith and helps us conquer our human tendency toward struggle and fear. (Daniel 3:16-18; I Peter 4:19)
• A furnace offers the opportunity for a visible visit by God. (Daniel 3:25)
• When the work of the furnace is complete, the result is far more valuable than it was to begin with! (Job 23:10; James 1:17; I Peter 1:7; 4:12-14)

Rebellious children, a wayward spouse, conflict, persecution, physical affliction, traumatic experiences, crisis, chastening, and disobedience are just a few of the things that can bring us to an up close and personal understanding of the work of the furnace. In such times, please Lord, help us to remember... 1. Yielding shortens the process, (Ecclesiastes 10:4) 2. Your grace is sufficient, (II Corinthians 12:9) and, 3. You are always working all things together for good. (Romans 8:28)