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Part 1 – Be: Even when trials and fires come, decide who you are and remain true to that. The Hebrews refused to bow, even when faced with the fiery furnace.

Part 2 – Still: You’re Still Here. When you are tied and bound and there is nothing you can do about your situation, sometimes all you can do is be ‘still’ and look for God in the fire. He always comes.

Part 3- And: And they came out of the fire. And there was no smell of smoke upon them. What’s your ‘and’?

And now Day 4- Know:

I tend to divide my life into ‘before’ and ‘after’. As in before Dave died and after Dave died. Do you feel that way? It was such a pivotal life changer that forever altered my perspective. In light of that, the word ‘know’ has two different life applications to me.

First, I can honestly say that after the tears, questions, and impossible situations of the past few years, I know the Lord in a deeper way. I can even say that I don’t think I could have come to know Him as deeply without the ugly times. His faithfulness has been tried and His word proved true over and over. I believe our Hebrew friends from Daniel Chapter 3 also experienced this.

And the king said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Daniel 3:25

When they were in danger of losing it all, God in the flesh appeared, revealing Himself in a more intimate way than He ever had before, walking through the fire with them!

The other application of know is that God somehow uses the impossible parts of our journey to reveal Himself to others. After Nebuchadnezzar saw the miracle in the furnace, four men walking freely where he had thrown in three men tightly bound, he was astonished.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Daniel 3:26

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him, defied the king’s command, and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Daniel 3:28

Through the trial that the Hebrews endured, a king who formerly wanted to be worshipped had a change of perspective. He then wanted to know their God, this God of miracles that they followed. What’s funny to me is that all of their righteous ways and words did not convert him. The trial that they endured showed him the truth about God.

Maybe sometimes the beauty of His promises is not our happily ever after, but simply that we trust Him and somehow through it all, someone else will come to trust Him too. And to KNOW Him as He has allowed us to know Him.

May we all dare to believe His words in Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

Keep going, dear sisters. One day at a time, determine to know Him a little more and make Him known, just by being you and walking the journey He has set before you. You display His splendor more than you ever realize. I don’t think anyone has ever come to know the Lord when they are faced with someone else’s perfection. But when they see Him real in your circumstance, even shining through your tears, it is beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Be. Still. And. Know…that He is God.
Psalm 46:10