Another In The Fire

This week, I had breakfast with a friend of mine. If you read one of my earlier posts, The Serpent and the Dove, then you already know his story. If not, you can click on the title and catch up.

I’ve been worried about him for the past couple of months. There are powerful forces aligned against him. Some are threatening to take away his freedom. Others challenge his ability to provide for his family.  The good name he has built for himself hangs in the balance.

The heat he is taking from all sides is intense.

I wish that I could help him, but I don’t know what to do. His situation is so complex that it is difficult to keep track of all the characters, let alone know where to offer assistance. It is a powerless feeling.

I send him messages regularly letting him know that I am praying for him and his family. When I see him across the crowded cafe at church, I weave through the crowd to hug him. This week, I met him for breakfast. It seems like so little, but it’s all I know how to give right now.

I arrived at Einstein’s Bagels a few minutes early for our breakfast together and found an empty table while I waited for him to arrive. I expected him to walk through the door with the weight of the world obvious on his face and in his posture. I wondered what I would say.

When he walked in, it wasn’t what I had expected. He had an easy smile. He told me “Good morning” and thanked me for inviting him.  We ordered our food and while we waited for it, he brought me up to speed on his situation. He spoke with seriousness but didn’t seem scared or defeated. The magnitude of his situation was at odds with the tranquility of his disposition.

He described to me how blessed he was by his small group. They had surrounded him with compassion and prayed for him regularly. He and his wife had sought out powerful prayer warriors to ask for the Father’s help. Then he thanked me again for my prayerful support.

His future is uncertain, but his faith is unshaken. Through all of the peril, he trusts God to deliver him. Looking forward, he told me that when this was over his testimony would be powerful and that he would be prepared to share it with the whole world that currently seems aligned against him.

Eventually, we parted ways. While I was walking across the parking lot, I was thinking about the testimony he would inevitably share. What would his story be?

I got to my car and climbed behind the wheel. As I reached to set my phone into its cradle, I noticed the familiar blue light that announces an awaiting message. It was from James, who is also going through a tough time. I’ve been worried about him, too. His text message said:

The link that followed was to the song “Another In The Fire” by Hillsong. You can click the thumbnail picture to hear it.

James was right. It was a message. It was meant for him and for me.

The song’s title is a reference to a story from the third chapter of Daniel in the Old Testament. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship their king as if he were a god.  The enraged king ordered them to be bound and thrown into a blazing furnace. The furnace was so hot that the guards who threw them in died from the heat. But the three friends weren’t consumed by the flames. Instead, they danced inside, untied and unharmed.

When the surprised king looked into the fire and saw them dancing inside, he peered closer and saw a fourth person. He said that there was another in the fire, who looked like a son of the gods.

When people hear this story, they don’t visualize the three friends walking out of the furnace, or the reward they later received from the king, or even their story being told for generations afterwards. When people hear the story, they imagine the three dancing in the flames, joined by another in the fire, who saved them.

My friend doesn’t have to wait for his testimony to be revealed. He has inspired me with it already. Encircled by danger and surrounded by flames, he is dancing. He knows that there is another in the fire, dancing with him. That is his testimony.

In this world, all of us will constantly experience difficulty, danger, and pain. But Jesus is alive. He is our salvation and we are never alone. Our story does not have to wait until the final victory to be told. Our present peace influences others more than our future reward.

Our story is told while we dance in the flames, knowing there is another in the fire with us.

My friend was right. His testimony is powerful and I am thankful that he shared it with me.