One doesn't have to be in Sunday School very long to hear the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. They were the three who refused to bow down and worship any one but 'our one true God'. King Nebucadnezzar commanded that they worship gods which he had made. If the three didn't worship those gods, the king would toss them into a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego believed that their God would deliver them. What they believed about their ancient God is the same things we can believe about our God today. He is never in a box with only one answer.

Three different scenarios when people of God face the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:13-18):*

1:  We can be delivered from the fire.  The King could have changed his mind and let them go. We love it when we learn there is no cancer, we are given the job of our dreams, our journey is smooth. Dividend:  Our faith is built.

2:  We can be delivered through the fire.  While the three were tossed into the fiery furnace, the flames did not touch them. We endure the chemotherapy, the job loss, the broken relationship learning at the same time that God can be trusted and depended upon. We like this one less; we would prefer something easier! Dividend:  Our faith is refined.

3:  We can be delivered by the fire into His arms.  The three knew that it could be God's will that they were burned alive in the furnace, but they put their trust in the One who could and would take care of them....in this life and the one that was coming in eternity. This one sometimes confuses us when the young person, with all kinds of potential dies; when our dreams are cut short by a terminal disease. Dividend:  Our faith is perfected.

(* Shared with me by Christine Lousias, taken from a  Beth Moore Bible Study :  Daniel - Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophesy)