By Greg Sanders

Daniel 3:15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Your commitment to God will always be tested. There are many different fronts on which your faith will be tested. In Daniel, these three servants of God were being tested with the promise of certain death if they did not compromise their commitment to God. Though this type of encounter seems to be outdated, let me promise you that it is a very real and present danger to many believers around the world today. Yet these men, as well as men and women around the world today, are boldly standing for their faith in God. We must face the furnace or we will leave a trail of defeat and fear in our lives.

Here are a few reasons you must face the furnace rather than compromise your convictions.

* If you concede to the loudest and immediate voices in your life you may lose your connection to the real voice of God. There will always be voices trying to lead you away from listening to the true voice of God.

* If you dodge the furnace you will miss the miracle. I assume you know the rest of the story. God showed up and gloriously delivered these men. However, if they had crumbled under pressure they would have never discovered the provision of God in such a manner. When you dodge the furnace you miss the miracle of God showing up.

* If you avoid the pressure, you also avoid the promotion God wants to bring to your life. These men exited the furnace with much more influence than they entered. The Bible says that they elevated the name of God in the land not by their political arguments but by their willingness to stand firm to their convictions.

Today’s Challenge: Realize the furnaces that come to your life provide an opportunity for you to discover God in an increasing manner. It is the impossible circumstances that put the magnifying glass on your life and allows you to shape people who are normally outside your sphere of influence. Pray that God will give you the grace to face the furnaces in your life.