He walked with them

Recently i listened to a talk which mentioned the passage in Daniel where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are cast into the fiery furnace. The speaker raised an interesting point... He said that God had the opportunity to demonstrate a miracle in several ways..... Firstly, He could have sent a rain-storm, to put the fire out.... but He didn't. Secondly, He could have changed Nebuchadnezzar's heart, so that He decided to let them off and didn't throw them into the fire... but He didn't. And thirdly, He could have made the guard rebel, so that rather than throwing them into the fire he spared them and threw Nebuchadnezzar into the fire instead... but He didn't do that either. Instead He let them be thrown into the fire and rather than putting the fire out, He choose to walk with them in the midst of it. I guess that is still a miracle - but a different kind of miracle to the one you would naturally want.... however, it's a perfect example of what life is often like..... rather than taking His children out of trouble, He chooses to come and walk with us in the midst of it... and sustain us. Sometimes He shows His grace by bringing complete instant freedom from a situation.... at other times He shows His grace by walking with us through a situation and giving us grace to endure. I guess it's up to Him which route He chooses. Admittidly i'd prefer it if His presence was always tangible AND He took me out of every bad situation, but alas, that's not what He always chooses - and at the end of the day, however much we might not understand something, we have to trust that He knows best.

"I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matt 28.20