Victory doesn’t smell of smoke.
One of my favorite Bible Stories is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego our pastor at church has been going over it on the past couple of Sundays and it just never ceases to amaze me what we can learn from these guys.
-They stood their ground and wouldn’t conform to the world around them.
-They were humble yet firm when it came to the King’s request and his anger.
-They were faithful.
-They were thrown into the fiery furnace, a fire SO HOT it killed the guards that tossed them in and came out without even smelling like smoke.
I love this story so much I wrote a couple of days focused on these guys in It’s Time For Jesus...
This is an excerpt from my book It’s Time For Jesus, Day 17…
“Even if…” These two words hold so much meaning to me. They knew exactly what they were saying. They knew the power of God. They trusted He could save them, but EVEN IF He didn’t, they knew it was better to die than to bow down.
Friend, where is your trust? Are you in a hard season? Maybe no one is asking you to bow down to an idol but maybe you are struggling in your marriage, in a relationship with a friend, or in your relationship with food. Possibly you are parenting a difficult child. Are you trusting that God is able to bring you out on the other side? What if God’s rescuing looks different than what you prayed and hoped for? Are you going to trust Him 'even if" it doesn't go as you hope?
& another from Day 18…
We can go through some extremely hard things and have faith and knowledge that Jesus is with us. We need to remember He is with us, He cares for us, and even if it doesn’t look like what we thought, He is still there. He knows exactly what is going on.
We will learn and grow through trials, but we don’t have to smell like fire. We don’t have to come out on the other side with bitterness, harboring guilt or shame or anything else. Victory doesn’t smell like smoke. I am not sure what victory smells like, maybe sweat, but I also think maybe cupcakes and glitter. These men stood up for what they believed. They walked through the scariest thing they could imagine, but that experience didn’t cling to them. They were victorious.
What are you letting cling to you? Do you smell smoke? What have you walked through lately? Our experiences change and shape us, but let's make sure it’s for the best. Victory doesn’t smell of smoke.
