Craig Groeschel - You're Not Alone in Your Anxiety
In this message from Daniel chapter 3, Pastor Craig shows how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a literal fiery furnace rather than bow to an idol, declaring that God is able to save them—and even if He doesn’t, they will still trust and worship only Him. The key point is that a tested faith becomes a trustworthy faith, and Jesus meets us right in the middle of our trials.
Acknowledging Life’s Difficult Seasons
I’d love it if you would raise your hand today at all of our churches. You can type in the comment section online: this is me. Raise your hand today if every single part of your life is going great right now. Raise your hand. Okay, we’ve got somebody here. Praise God for you. I’m excited for you. God bless you. This message is not for you.
I want to talk today to those of you who may be going through something a little bit more difficult. I want to talk to those who might have something painful in some pocket or maybe even a big portion of your life. I want to talk to those of you that may be in a complicated season for you or maybe with somebody that you love.
Real Struggles Around Us
And I’ve got a lot of friends right now that are struggling, people very close to us. One person is praying and praying and praying for a miracle, and God just isn’t answering the prayer the way that she believes that He could. There’s a couple that we love that’s been believing God and trying for a long time to have a child, and they finally got pregnant, and then they lost their child. I’ve got another friend that thought that the cancer was gone because it was gone, but then it came back.
I want to talk to some people that are going through some things like that. And for many of you it may be something kind of big like that, or it could be a problem that’s not really big, but just an ongoing problem. Like, you know, life’s just okay, not great. Job’s not great. It’s okay. Marriage is not great, it’s okay. Finances are not great, just kind of barely making it.
The Reality of Hard Seasons
And to make things worse, you’re sitting by the guy whose life is going great, right? My pastor, Pastor Nick, who I love and honor, he used to say that you are probably going into a hard season, or you’re in the middle of a hard season, or you’re coming out of a hard season. I love my pastor. I hate when he said that, probably because it’s really true.
I mean, in this broken world, marred by sin, life can be really, really difficult. And Peter, in the New Testament, he calls these difficulties fiery trials. Some of you may be in a fiery trial right now. You’re battling with depression or you’re discouraged and you might even feel like your faith is being tested right now.
The Value of Tested Faith
Peter said of the trials, he said this in First Peter 1:7, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.”
Today, I want to continue our message through the Book of Daniel. We’re looking at Daniel and his friends, and we’re going to see that Daniel and his friends face the test of a lifetime. They’re going to literally be thrown into a fiery trial, a fiery furnace, and they’re going to discover that a faith that’s been tested is a faith that can be trusted.
Handing Off to Campus Pastors
I want to just tell you what we’re going to do. Those of you at Life Church Online, those of you at YouTube, stay with me. I’m going to be with you for the rest of the message. Those of you at the campus, we’re going to do something different.
I want to brag on your campus pastor for a moment. We have 45 campus pastors. These are people who are faithful to the word of God, committed to loving God’s people, filled with integrity and incredible pastors. And I wanted to give them the opportunity to share God’s word with you today.
Reviewing the Story So Far
Now it’s just us online and a rather rowdy group who’s in the room with me today. Let’s have some fun. We’re going to review where we’ve been in this message series. In week number one in the series “Unshakeable,” we talked about the evil King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was wicked. He was evil. He was the most powerful man in the Kingdom of Babylon, the Babylonian empire.
And after he conquered Judah, it was horrible. He destroyed the temple, mocked their faith. He took the best and the brightest young men, captured them and deported them from their homeland, from their families, and took them to Babylon to indoctrinate them with the evil Babylonian views. And Daniel and his three friends were four of the people that were taken. His friends were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
The Golden Statue
King Nebuchadnezzar had an inflated sense of importance. He made a gold statue of himself that was 90 feet tall. This is as tall as an eight-story building. He had all of the government leaders, all the advisors and the judges and the magistrates come to the dedication of the statue that he made for himself.
Daniel chapter 3 says this: “Then a herald shouts, ‘When you hear the sound of the musical instruments, bow down to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.’”
The Moment of Testing
So this guy builds this big statue of himself and says, everybody worship the statue of me made of gold. And if you don’t, you’re going to be thrown in the fiery furnace. Now, there’s some kids there, probably teenagers, maybe a little bit older now, who love God and don’t want to worship a false idol.
It doesn’t get any more serious than this. Basically the message is: when the band starts playing, you have to bow and worship the king. If you don’t, you’re going to die. This is a test. This is a trial. And remember, a faith that’s been tested is a faith that can be trusted.
Everyone Bows—Except Three
So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Picture this: there’s this big gold statue and everybody, all the important people, are bowing down and worshiping.
And there’s three boys not bowing, three boys still standing. And the leaders were looking around going, “Wait, they disobeyed the king?” And they’re like, “There’s no way. We are so telling the king.” These were annoying people.
The Bold Response
“Oh great King Nebuchadnezzar, those Jewish boys that you promoted,” because remember, they’re all jealous of these Jewish boys, the favorites, “those Jewish boys that you promoted, they’re not worshiping you, king.” And the king’s like, “That’s not right. I built a big statue of myself. I’m King Nebuchadnezzar.” And so he screams at the boys and he basically said, “You better bow or burn.”
Verse 16 tells us what they did. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—watch the respect, watch the directness and the kindness. They’re not arrogant, they’re not mean, they’re not critical. They’re clear, they’re direct, and they’re respectful.
Their Declaration of Faith
They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we’re thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and our God will deliver us from your majesty’s hand.”
I don’t need to tell you about my faith. I don’t need to tell you why your rule’s stupid. I’m just going to tell you right now, we worship God, we’re going to serve God. We’re not bowing down to you. And the God we serve is able.
Refusing to Compromise
They refuse to compromise their faith even in the face of death. We need to let that just sink in. That’s bold. A faith that’s been tested is a faith that can be trusted.
And let’s just acknowledge for a minute how easy it would’ve been for them to kind of just blend in, right? Think about it: everybody else is bowing down, they don’t want to die. Think about how easy it would be to rationalize and just bow down.
They could’ve faked it—like we’re bowing down and acting like it, but we’ve got our fingers crossed. They could have worshiped just one time: “Okay, we need to do this and so we’re worshiping and then we’re going to ask God for forgiveness. Surely God will understand.”
Daily Tests of Faith
It’s difficult for most of us to imagine that. I do want to acknowledge that I’m talking to some of you in some countries where you can imagine it—you literally live it. There are those of you that secretly watch these messages because you’re seeking Jesus. And if you proclaimed Him boldly publicly, you’d lose your family or worse.
Maybe your faith is tested in many ways every single day. Whether you compromise and laugh at the joke or don’t, whether you join in the gossip or don’t, whether you treat people with love and respect and dignity or you don’t—every single day your faith is tested.
God Is Able
Verse 17 tells us this: “If we’re thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us.” I tell myself, no matter what I face, my God is able. You tell yourself when you don’t know what you’re going to do, when your faith is getting low—sometimes you have to preach to yourself and say, my God is able.
I serve the God who says with Him all things are possible. I serve a God who can open blind eyes and deaf ears, who can speak to that which is dead and bring it back. My God is able. Somebody say it: My God is able. My God is able.
Even If He Doesn’t
But what if God is able and He doesn’t? What if He’s able to heal and He doesn’t? What if He’s able to provide and you find yourself lacking? Anybody ever been there? Can we just be real?
They say: He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. But even if He doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.
One of the greatest faith statements you could ever make goes like this: “God, I believe you can. And God, I believe you will. But even if you don’t, I still believe.”
The Fourth Man in the Fire
So the king orders the furnace turned up seven times hotter. The strongest soldiers tie them up and throw them in—but the flames kill those soldiers. And these three boys that chose to worship the true God are in the middle of the fire.
The king looks on and he’s shocked. “Didn’t we throw three men into the fire?” “Yes, king.” “Look—I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and they’re not even hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Jesus Meets Us in the Fire
Bible scholars tell us that the fourth man is most likely Jesus—a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Jesus comes with the boys in the fire. The boys were in the fire and Jesus met them in the fire.
God didn’t deliver them from the fire. God delivered them in the fire. God doesn’t always deliver us from our trials, but He is always with us in our trials. In the middle of the worst fiery trial of their lives, Jesus met them in the fire.
Coming Out Unscathed
They miraculously survived. Not only did they survive, there was no harm on their body. Their bodies didn’t even smell like smoke. There’s someone here going through a fiery trial right now—and by the power and grace of God, you’re not going to get burned, but you’re going to come out and not smell like smoke.
And the king who resented these boys’ faith in God promoted the boys and decided on the spot to put his faith in their God.
Closing Prayer for Those in Trials
So Father, we worship you. We worship you for who you are. With every bit of faith, God, we praise you. We believe you are the God that can and you are the God that will. And we declare that you are God. And no matter what, God, we trust you.
Today at all of our churches, those of you online, I want to pray for those of you that maybe it’s you, maybe it’s someone that you love, but you or someone close to you is in the middle of a fiery season, a trial.
God, in a strange way, I thank you for the trials. We would never choose them. We don’t really want them. We don’t enjoy them. But God, thank you that we get to know you in a different way in those trials. And so Father, I ask right now for whatever those in our church family, those around the world are going through right now, that they would sense that you’re good. That your peace that goes beyond all understanding in this moment would guard their hearts and their minds and their souls in Christ Jesus. And God, we thank you that you’re a miraculous God. And we believe for miracles, God—we believe for supernatural healing, God. And we believe for provision, God. And we believe for the salvation of those that need you, God. And we believe for restoration in broken families, God, and marriages and relationships with kids, God. You’re a supernatural God. And we believe by faith you can move mountains, God. We ask for miracles. And God, we know you can, and God, we believe you will. We’re like the persistent widow that comes back and keeps praying and praying and praying. And we’ll never stop praying and never stop believing. And ultimately, God, even though we know you can, and God by faith we still believe you will—if you don’t, God, we still worship you. Would you meet those who are hurting in the fire? God, show them your love. Show them your goodness. Show them your grace. God, we thank you that a faith that has been tested is one that can be trusted. God, draw us close. Teach us to depend on you. God, help us to know you in the fire.
Invitation to Follow Jesus
Now as you keep praying, some of you’re going to recognize: “Yeah, I’m kind of doing life without Jesus.” Our God is a loving God and He loves you. And you’re not watching this message by accident. You’re watching because God loves you and He loves you so much that His word says that He sent His one and only Son Jesus.
Jesus didn’t come into the world to make people feel guilty. He didn’t come into the world to condemn the world. He came here to save you. He came here to save me. When you call on Jesus, He hears your prayers. He forgives all of your sins. He makes you new. Then He fills you with the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s with you always. He’ll never leave you. He’ll never forsake you.
Heavenly Father. I need you in my life. I’m broken. I’m sinful. And I need a savior. I trust Jesus to save me from my sins. To make me brand new. God, would you fill me with your Holy Spirit, so I could know you intimately and so I could serve you for the rest of my life. My life is not my own. You are my king. You’re my savior. You’re my Lord. Thank you for new life. I give you all of mine. In Jesus’ name, I pray.