Have you ever felt stuck in the midst of suffering? Or faced a circumstance and wondered, “How can I ever move forward?” I certainly have. During seasons like this, my husband and I find comfort in Daniel 3. I have always thought this passage was powerful, but in the midst of dark and difficult days, God showed us something new.   

So let me pick up the story in Daniel 3:24-25:   

 “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’  

They replied, ‘Certainly, Your Majesty.’  

He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’”  

Now there is plenty to learn from this passage—not the least of which is that although the fire did not harm the three men, the fire did burn off the ropes that bound them. And, of course, no one can miss that fourth person, right?  

Amazingly, most scholars agree that the man who appeared alongside Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was an Old Testament appearance of Christ.   

But the thing I had always missed—the insight that caught me for the very first time—was that they were “walking around in the fire.”   

And that’s what really speaks to me.   

Whatever affliction, whatever fiery trial God might put me through, I can be sure that the particular sin that had bound me before the affliction, will, by His grace, be burned away in the midst of it—done away with in God’s eyes.

Like the ropes that bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God faithfully uses painful circumstances to expose my sin and destroy it. His refining fire is strong enough to break the bonds of fear, insecurity, doubt, anxiety, addiction, or anger, before those painful sins break us.    

What God shows us through this passage is that Jesus will be with me in the middle of the trial. Jesus does not stand outside the furnace, cheering me on and telling me to hang in there. This lesson in Daniel teaches us that Jesus goes through the fiery ordeal alongside us; in the midst of the suffering, He is right there!   

And finally, there’s this curious picture of  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking in the midst of the fire.   

Too often, we believe that an awful affliction must stop us dead in our tracks. It derails us. It brings everything to a halt and impedes us from going further. Too often we try to stand still, waiting until the trial passes so we can get back to life as normal.   

That’s not the way it goes for the Christian. A trial does not bring everything to a standstill until we can wrench free of it and be on our way. A trial is one of the streets through which we move into our destiny. A trial is a pathway on which we walk closer to the finish line. A trial is a road that leads us deeper into the heart of Christ. It’s not something to escape. It’s not a puzzle to quickly solve so we can get back on track. It’s not a detour; it’s the main road. The main thing. It is the main path. We don’t stand still in the midst of a fiery trial; we are called to walk through it.   

The comfort of Christ’s revelation is not that it teaches us emancipation from sorrow, but emancipation through sorrow.    

It was George Matheson who said:   

“‘The road is too rough,’ I said; ‘It is uphill all the way;    
No flowers, but thorns instead;    
And the skies over head are grey.’   
But One took my hand at the entrance dim,    
And sweet is the road that I walk with him.    
Then why do we fret and sigh;    
Cross-bearers all we go:    
But the road ends by-and-by    
In the dearest place we know,    
And every step in the journey we    
May take in the Lord’s own company.”     

Remember that today. When you struggle to move forward, never forget that the Lord walks with you in the midst of the fire. And when He does, the world will stand amazed–not by your strength, but by the strength of the One who breaks our bonds and ultimately sets us free. So, take courage and…walk on.   

This article was adapted from a post originally published on joniandfriends.org

A Story of Faith and Rebuilding

When Aina heard the gospel for the first time, he felt betrayed. At a Christian camp outside his hometown of Antananarivo, Madagascar, he was suddenly confronted with years of buried pain. 

“The man who preached the gospel talked about God as the Father. He introduced God as our Dad, our Daddy, and I didn’t want to hear it. I was so mad. I kept saying, ‘I don’t want that God.’ I was not interested, because the dad I had was terrible. I wanted to say, no thank you. I’m good.”

But God’s Word pierced Aina’s defenses. After years of being held captive to rage and bitterness, hope began to break through. For the first time, Aina believed that someone could love him.   

“I wanted to have a second dad. It was a crucial moment for me. It was not the pastor and not the preaching that touched my heart; it was the Word of God.” 

Letting Go of a Broken Past

Aina’s childhood was marked by abuse and heavy responsibility.  

“When I was eight years old, I used to wake up at two in the morning to bake all sorts of things to sell. Then at 5 a.m., I would carry heavy bags to sell on the side of the road. After that, I would go to school and just be exhausted. When I would fall asleep in school, my teachers thought I was lazy or stupid. But no one knew how hard my life was at home. I was one of the key people providing for my family.” 

“My dad was drunk six days a week and my parents fought constantly. No child should ever have to live like that. I was angry and even my friends were scared of me at times.” 

At 19, Aina accepted Christ as his Savior—and everything changed. 

“I cried for two days straight. I was just overwhelmed. When I went to spend time with my old friends, I didn’t want to do anything they were doing. I just wanted to learn more about God, so I started reading the Bible.” 

That year, he joined BSF.  

“For the first time, I felt loved, accepted, and forgiven.” 

Still, releasing years of hurt was not easy. Bitterness threatened to steal the new joy Aina discovered. Finally, through prayer and God’s Word, Aina found strength to let go. 

“I realized that I would never get my stolen childhood back. So I released it. I let my dad go. When you let go of bitterness, it’s for yourself. You give your heart a second chance to recover. And now, it’s like God is telling me that He is my Dad. When I pray, it’s like I’m talking to someone so close to me, like I’m talking to the Dad I always wanted.”  

Embracing God’s Call to Build Today

Today, Aina has three daughters who all attend BSF. His wife is a BSF leader, and her father became the earthly father figure Aina prayed for years ago.  

But God’s work in Aina extends far beyond his family. The pain that could have kept him from loving others now fuels his compassion. 

Aina connects children in abusive situations with safe families. He partners with schools to provide scholarships for kids and young adults who have missed educational opportunities. And when adults wrestle with past wounds, he listens—and helps them reclaim childhood dreams like visiting the beach or learning to ride a bike. 

Because Aina discovered that a broken past doesn’t have to define us. Through healing in Christ, we can build lives of faith and share the gospel wherever God calls us. 

The Bible reminds us that adversity is often the very place where God shapes deep faith. Daniel, torn from his family and carried into exile, could have surrendered to bitterness. Instead, he placed his future in God’s hands. In the face of trials, Daniel remained faithful. God used his obedience to influence kings and impact generations of His people. 

For Aina, releasing his past was only the beginning of God’s plan. 

“It took a while, but I finally started to ask my dad to share his own story. I started to understand his behavior and to pray for him. It’s still heavy on my heart. I shared the gospel with my dad, and he has yet to be born again. But I have let go of the bitterness. I’m passionate about helping others experience the forgiveness I have discovered in Christ.”  

How do you act when life makes no sense? When the things that you depend on have crumbled? Where do you look? What do you think? 

Maybe you lost the job that you thought you would have forever. Maybe the unthinkable has happened, and your marriage has broken up. Maybe physical sickness has robbed you of your strength. Maybe your church, your place of refuge, is in horrible controversy. Maybe your family has been thrown into controversy and division.  

When life is hard, when it doesn’t seem to make sense—where do you run? Where do you hide?

These are some of the questions Ezekiel helps us answer. When we understand his experience living in exile as a priest without a temple, we discover how this ancient book speaks to us today. Even though Ezekiel lived thousands of years ago, he has much to teach us about holding on to hope in dark times. 

Ezekiel’s world was a broken world. God’s people were exiled and dispersed and God’s temple lay in ruins. During this time, it looked like death was reigning and all hope was lost. In these kind of moments, it’s tempting to question God’s promises. It’s tempting to question His power. It’s tempting to doubt His presence. It’s tempting to bring God into the court of our judgment and question His faithfulness and His love. 

On the surface, Ezekiel seems to be a portion of Scripture that we should avoid when we’re feeling depressed, because it seems very depressing.  

But there is a moment in Ezekiel that gives us hope. This moment is so beautiful. It’s the valley of dry bones. This word picture in this passage is just amazing.  

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones, He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” (Ezekiel 37:1-2) 

Dry bones as far as you can see, and the ultimate question of the whole biblical story is asked in that moment, “Son of man, can these bones live?”  

Ezekiel challenges us to ask, “Can life come out of death?” That question is important because if the answer is “No,” then we’re doomed.  

Ezekiel shows us that the answer is, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” God has the power and the willingness to bring dead things to life.  

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:5-6) 

And we can’t look at life coming into those dry bones in Ezekiel without thinking of Ephesians 2:4-5: 

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” 

Ezekiel is actually one of those places in the Old Testament where the gospel themes are not hard to find. I would call Ezekiel, “Resurrecting Grace.” 

You see, apart from God’s resurrecting, life-giving grace, we’re all just dry bones. We’re just dead people walking. Out of death and destruction, God brings life! That’s the story of Jesus. He died to conquer death so that we could experience new life in Him. In the darkest of moments, the gospel shines the brightest! 

I am persuaded, and this will surprise some of you, that hopelessness is the doorway to hope. It’s only when you give up on finding life anywhere else that you will seek life where it can only ever be found.  

When you look around and say, “There’s death all around me, death inside of me, I don’t know where to look for hope,” then you are ready to find true hope–hope that can make dry bones live. That hope can only be found in the person and work of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. 

So when you need hope, when you need to experience the gospel in a new way, don’t skip Ezekiel. Don’t skip the Old Testament. Because the gospel is there, ready to be discovered, ready to give us hope in our struggles today and challenges tomorrow.  

This article was adapted from a post originally published on paultripp.com

You’ve just shared the gospel with a friend. Your voice was shaky, and your heart is still pounding, but you did it! God gave you courage and words to share the beautiful truth that Jesus died to reconcile us to God.  

You sit back, waiting for your friend to say something.  

“Thank you for telling me about your faith. I’m so glad you have found your path to peace.”  

A few minutes later, the conversation shifts. The door feels closed. Where do you go from here?

The world’s need for the gospel is clear. As believers who know the joy and blessing of salvation, our hearts ache for family, friends, and neighbors who don’t. 

We prepare to share the gospel with them, rehearsing in our minds the truths about God’s holiness, humankind’s sinfulness, and Christ’s work of reconciliation. These truths are essential to any gospel presentation.

But what’s the next step? How do we move beyond sharing gospel information to giving a gospel invitation?  

Jesus’s offer of salvation requires a response, and it’s loving to communicate that—even if we feel uncomfortable or pushy. So how can we invite our friends to respond to Jesus’s invitation? Here are three questions that can take your gospel conversation further.   

No matter how they feel, the truth is that every unbeliever stands separated from God. Every person needs to face the reality of their own unrighteousness. Recognizing the vast chasm between God’s holiness and our sinfulness is painful, but we must reach that point before we can grasp our need for the salvation Jesus offers. 

We shouldn’t shrink from helping others confront the reality of sin and its devastating effects. Jesus lovingly did the same for us. He didn’t shy away from our darkness but met us in the midst of it and showed us the way out. We do the same when we share the truth with others, even when it’s hard to hear.  

See also Isaiah 59:1-2; Matthew 5:3; John 1:14; and Romans 3:23.

The gospel is not just informational; it’s invitational. Like an invitation we might receive to a wedding or an event, a response is expected and necessary—will you come? No one can remain neutral once the invitation has been given. Not to respond, or to delay, is a response. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus welcomes all who come to Him.  

See also Matthew 11:28; 25:1-13; and John 1:12; 6:37. 

No matter how clear your gospel presentation and how compelling your plea to respond in faith, only God can change a heart. Your conversation may end with hesitation, rejection, or dismissal. But don’t be discouraged! God moves in hearts in His own time and way. We can trust Him to continue to work through the truths of the gospel we’ve shared, while we leave the door open for more conversation later.  

See also Ezekiel 36:26; Matthew 19:25-26; and John 3:5-8. 

Sharing the gospel can be intimidating, and asking for a response can feel pushy. But thank God that He pushes into unbelief to call sinners to Himself! Will you lovingly call others to respond to Him too?