The Fiery Furnace

I have noticed many of the different threads of my life all coming together lately. I have been trying to process everything that I learned last semester, and how to put into action the newly softened heart I find myself with. I have been convicted about the lack of good, solid female leadership, though I did not realize that that was God's intention for me. I have been reading Desiring God by John Piper, and The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, and their opinions converge in the idea that we claim that we want God, and yet we settle for a half-hearted relationship with him. This has played into my conviction about apathy, how we are comfortable and so unwilling to follow God into any sort of discomfort or confrontation. I am convicted because so often we need strong people to stand up for us (which sometimes includes standing up against us) to confront the sin in our lives, and yet no one does. I know that I have failed in this more times than I can count.

Have you caught the common thread yet? Ours is a God of action. Ours is a God that sets the world on fire, so that his people may know the sound of his voice. Satan thrives on our silence, on our unwillingness to confront each other. Our unwillingness to act.

There is, of course, a time and a place for confrontation. Just as there is a time and a place for silence and grace. But Satan has twisted the meaning of grace to make us think that it means we cannot confront each other at all. The difference is the motivation: are you seeking confrontation for your glory, or God's? Are you avoiding it for your comfort, or because God led you to do so?

Do you know the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? They refused to worship the king's idol, so Nebuchadnezzar threw them into a furnace. Except, when the king looked into the furnace, he saw four men walking around completely unharmed. The three men, and "the form of the fourth was like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:24-25) When the three men came out, they were un-singed, un-burned. Nebuchadnezzar saw God's power at work, and he relented.

God recently called me to call someone out. I knew, before I opened my mouth, that all hell was going to break loose as soon as I did. Did I want to? No, of course not. Did I enjoy being berated all night? Did I want to make them angry and upset? Not even a little bit. But I love this person too much to let it go. Because they deserve better than to be ignored and enabled. But sin, you see, fights back with fervor. When it is threatened, it ignites a powerful inferno. But truth spoken in love is even more powerful. And while this person may never see it, may never know it, may never want to be near me again, I love them more than I care about whether or not they like me. And I may not be thrilled, but I am willing to walk into the fire, because I know that my God is right there with me, and that the spark of truth it might ignite in someone I love is worth far more than my measly, meager comfort.

Ours is a God of action. He calls us to things that are uncomfortable. God calls us into all kinds of fiery furnaces. Because he saved us and made us new, and sometimes it takes fire to share that with someone else. The Gospel is offensive. It is a fire all its own, and Satan fights its presence with all that he has. If God called you to, would you not be willing to walk into the fire? To brave the heat for the chance to share your God with someone?

Most of us would answer "no." Because that would require disrupting our comfortable lives. And would require us to have faith that God would not only deliver us safely from it, but meet us in the middle of the inferno.

Has God ever called you to confrontation? To face an uncomfortable situation for the sake of someone else?

I'm certain he has. Let me rephrase:

Did you obey?