It's often hard to see God, to see his hand, his work in our lives. It's often hard to sense his presence, but for the believer he's ever present. In fact, he says he will never leave us, but most of the time we don't sense his presence, we aren't aware of his care.
For me it's the busy life I live that makes his voice hard to hear, his face hard to see. I don't take the time to quiet my mind and heart to listen, to see him ever with me.
The times when God is most visible, the times when we see him the most clearly are times of test, times of trial. It's in those refining moments the ever present one is most clearly seen....with us even in the heat of the trial.
As I read Daniel 3 this morning, the story of Daniel's friends and their trial by fire, the ever present one is unseen until Daniel's friends are in the midst of the flames. In those refining moments, in the furnaces of our lives, God's presence is most clearly seen. It's in those moments when we desperately need to see him. In the midst of the trial our questions abound, in the midst of the heat we need him most. Has he brought us to this trial to destroy us? Is he punishing us for our sins? Why is this happening to us?
And in the midst of the furnace God is with us. He never leaves us. Last night I was with a family in the furnace of a lifetime. It's a trial by fire to be sure. This is when they most need God's presence, his care, his love. It's in their furnace that they will see him. He is always with us, always caring for us....even in the furnace of trials.
But why trials? Why use the furnace to make himself known and seen? It's because in the furnace no one can help us but God. As the king said to Daniel's friends, "Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" The king has defined the test- Is there a God who can deliver from the furnace? Is there someone to help when the trials of life overwhelm? The answer from the furnace is "YES! I'm here with you. Don't worry, I will take care of you."
The God of glory is always with us working for our good and his glory. In the midst of your furnace God is with you making himself known to you and seen by the world. In the midst of the furnace all other distractions are burned away and we see the ever present God who is always with us.
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