This morning I read my 5 and 3 year old the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you are new to this Bible story, I will sum it up briefly. The king makes a large, gold statue and declares that everyone must worship it or they will be thrown in the fiery furnace. These three, brave men say they will not worship the statue and so the king orders they be thrown in the furnace.

I love what the king says as he peers into the furnace. “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). All three men come out unharmed, not even smelling of smoke.

My children looked at me wide-eyed in amazement. Filled with curiosity and innocence, my daughter asked a question. “If I was thrown into a fire, would God save me?” The question made me stop and think. It also took me back to a time when I asked God to “save us” from a trial.

After finding out that our baby had a condition where half of the heart was not developing, we prayed a lot to God for His healing. We begged with God for His healing touch on our unborn baby.

I remember on our drive home from the doctor’s office that day a song came on that became the cry of my heart. The line in the lyrics that stood out to me was, “I know You’re able and I know You can save through the fire with Your mighty hand, but even if you don’t my hope is You alone.”

For reasons we may not know while we are on earth, God decided to not heal Jace’s heart before He was born. It’s hard when God says “no” or “not right now”.

What I do know is that God was with me through EVERY step of the journey. Every prenatal visit, every sleepless night, every hospital visit, every tear I shed, every disappointment and every win.

Now, back to my daughter’s question.

I paused before I answered. My initial instinct was to cry out “yes, of course He will.” But I know that God does not always save us from every hard situation, every trial, and every pain.

God does allow us to go through trials and we may never know that exact reason or purpose for the trial. I do know, however, that God promises to be with us, just as He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

I told my daughter that God promises to always be with us, even if He doesn’t save us from the fire. When my husband came home I asked the kids to tell him about the story that we read. And do you know what part my daughter remembered? She told her daddy that God was with the three men in the fire.

Many of us are experiencing a “fire” situation right now. Maybe you are dealing with sickness, maybe you are needing to leave the comfort and security of a job, maybe there’s something you need to take a stand for but you know you will be thrown in the fire. God is with you brother. God is with you sister. Even in the fire, He is there.

I can say from experience that my moments in the fire have been some of my closest and most amazing times with my Creator.