Have you heard the song Another in the Fire by Hillsong United? Here are the powerful lyrics:
There’s a grace when the heart is under fire
Another way when the walls are closing in
And when I look at the space between
Where I used to be and this reckoning
I know I will never be alone
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I’ve been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me
There is another in the fire
All my debt left for dead beneath the waters
I’m no longer a slave to my sin anymore
And should I fall in the space between
What remains of me and this reckoning
Either way I won’t bow
To the things of this world
And I know I will never be alone
There is another in the fire
Standing next to me
There is another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
What power set me free
There is a grave that holds no body
And now that power lives in me
There is another in the fire
Oh-oh
There is another in the fire
Oh-oh
There is another in the fire
Woah-oh
There is another in the fire
Oh-oh (I can see)
I can see the light in the darkness
As the darkness bows to Him
I can hear the roar in the heavens
As the space between wears thin
I can feel the ground shake beneath us
As the prison walls cave in
Nothing stands between us
Nothing stands between us
There is no other name
But the name that is Jesus
He who was and still is
And will be through it all
So come what may in the space between
All the things unseen
And this reckoning
And I know I will never be alone (I know, come on)
And I know I will never be alone
There’ll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There’ll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You’ve been to me
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
And I can see the light in the darkness
As the darkness bows to Him
I can hear the roar in the heavens
As the space between wears thin
I can feel the ground shake beneath us
As the prison walls cave in
Nothing stands between us
Nothing stands between us
There’ll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There’ll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You’ve been to me
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
I’ll count the joy come every battle
‘Cause I know that’s where You’ll be
I love the references to Daniel 3 the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. The bottom line of that biblical narrative is that God will be with us IN the fire, even if he doesn’t rescue us FROM the fire.
Most of us are highly unlikely to be in jeopardy of loosing our lives for our faith, so we need not say, “if God doesn’t literally save us from a burning fire.” But how about these:
Even if he doesn’t protect me from the coronavirus.
Even if He doesn’t save my marriage.
Even if He doesn’t heal my child.
Even if He doesn’t provide me with a new job.
Even if He doesn’t save me from bankruptcy.
Even if He doesn’t give me a relationship with my estranged father.
Even if He doesn’t rescue my spouse from addiction.
Whatever your even if He doesn’t might be. Will you say, “I will never serve any other god. I will still praise the one true God?”
Maybe you are facing a crisis of belief, wondering why God hasn’t stepped into your circumstances. Maybe your faith is wavering in the midst of a situation that leaves you wondering where is God, why He hasn’t rescued you. Maybe you are floundering in your fear, pain, in your anguish, wondering if you will ever again be able to serve the God you once loved and proclaimed during times of certainty and safety.
In order to have an “even if He doesn’t” kind of faith, we must know God’s character, that He is a good God who loves His children and does what is best.