Series: Dog Daze
Daniel 3:24-25 ESV
Matthew 19:26 ESV
I love love love it when God shows up in unexpected ways!
When the three Men from Israel were cast into the fiery furnace everyone in the room would have probably known the fire was super stoked and was extra hot.
It was so hot the heat from the furnace would have spilled out in the room and possibly throughout the palace.
Ancient Babylon was located in what is Iraq today. The climate in Iraq in the summer ranges from 95 degrees at night to 115 degrees during the day. The average temperatures range from 40 degrees to around 110 depending on the season. Iraq does have lowlands and hot dry deserts. Ancient Mesopotamia was known for having hot summers with rain. Because of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers it would have also been humid.
Why does any of that matter?
Well, I knew a soldier who served in Iraq some years back.
When I asked him what the climate was like in Iraq he said it was very very hot. He was a runner and the heat and dry climate during certain parts of the year made it somewhat difficult to run every day. This soldier was also stationed in the Mojave Desert and he would run outside.
Ancient Babylon would have had a similar climate. The only difference might have been the humility from the presence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Taking into account the heat from the climate and the heat in the room it would probably have been extremely uncomfortable near the fiery furnace.
In Daniel 3:24-25 we are told, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
I have to wonder, did the King forget himself because he was so shook?
He didn’t know what to think!
Uhhhh well, ya…
But what I see is impossible.
In this case, the King was correct.
It was impossible.
But we are told in Matthew 19:26, “with God all things are possible.”
Beyond that, when I was in my twenties (many moons ago) I was challenged to think beyond the realm of possibilities. In other words, do not approach life from the viewpoint of what is readily available.
The challenge given to me was to “think” like Jesus thought. In other words don’t think about what is humanly possible OR even probable. Because scripture tells us with God everything is a possibility we need to think everything is possible.
Some years later I did research on what scientists now know about the human brain. Today we believe the human brain has billions of neurons. Neurons are nerve cells that send and receive messages to the body.
Today we know the brain is always active even when we sleep.
In the past scientists believed when we reach a certain age our brain slows the process of generating new cells. Today there is evidence that cellular regeneration can depend on continued use. In other words the old saying applies, “use it or lose it.” If we continue to push our brain to do hard things, it will continue to do hard things.
Many ‘seniors’ I know endeavor to continuously do difficult thinking tasks to keep their brain going. If it is true that doing difficult thinking or complex doing tasks continues to generate new brain cells, we need to utilize it more!
In the past praying has been considered to be a sedentary task, but if we pray seeking to truly engage our brain with Holy God, it can and will be the mightiest weapon we have!
In the case of the three men in the furnace being covered by mighty God, it would mean modern man has not even started to tap into the realm of possibilities God has for man.
Believing…really believing the three Hebrew men were literally walking around inside the furnace while God was in the furnace means miracles abound.
Then that is not the only part of the story.
The mighty King of Babylon also saw a fourth man and scripture says it was ‘like’ a son of a god (God). Jesus hadn’t even been born in Bethlehem at this point and the Babylonian King saw the Son in the fire.
Yes, yes it seems impossible.
But with God it is possible.
It is possible when we put our brain TO IT and believe.
Spiritual Practice: Believe
Pray the impossible. Put your brain TO it.
In God, Deborah
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