“Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and his facial expression was changed [to antagonism] against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was usually heated. And he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.” Daniel 3:19-20 AMP

Daniel 3 narrates the encounter of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (commonly referred to as the three Hebrew boys) with King Nebuchadnezzar, whilst they were under Babylonian captivity. He had set up a gold idol for a god and commanded the whole of Babylon to worship it. The three Hebrew boys however, being aware of God’s commandment in the Law of Moses not to bow down before any graven image (Exodus 20:4-5), made their stand clear that they would not bow down to the idol. Babylon was the world power then, so imagine how mad the king was at these captives that dare not regard his word! They made him go bonkers! 

The Good News Bible puts Daniel 3:19a this way:

‘Then Nebuchadnezzar lost his temper, and his face turned red with anger at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”

God showed Himself faithful to these men. The fiery furnace was seven times hotter than usual and they were thrown in bound. But the king, in surprise noted how they were walking free in the furnace, with a strange being, whom he described as “like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). I bet his eyes were fixated on them to see how these captives that dare defy his decree, BURN! But, GOD came down to their rescue!
God is faithful and can be trusted to the very end! (2 Chronicles 16:9a, 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Timothy 2:13).
They didn’t look or smell like they had been around fire by the time they came out (Daniel 3:28).

So much can be learned from this chapter, but I want to highlight one thing:

King Nebudchanezzar’s anger made him order that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual and he commanded the BEST MEN IN HIS ARMY to tie up the three Hebrew boys. The furnace was so hot that the flames killed the men who handled them (Daniel 3:22). Basically, the king’s anger led to him losing the ‘most mighty’ (KJV), ‘strongest’ (AMP), ‘mighty men of valor’ (LITV) from his army. WAS IT WORTH IT?!

I’m sure we can all narrate experiences where we hastily acted based solely on anger, and regretted most, if not all the times we did. It’s ok to be angry, it’s a valid emotion that God let us experience.

Ephesians 4:26 KJV
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
However, the bible warns against letting anger ‘rest’ in us, i.e. we shouldn’t dwell continuously on it.
Ecclesiastes 8:9 AMP
Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools.
Emotions can literally change within the snap of a finger, so they shouldn’t solely determine our actions. Only the Word of God deserves such a ‘Control Centre’ position in our lives.
When emotions are high, our senses gain ascendency if not checked, and we would most likely not pick up on how the Holy Spirit would have us react. We may just react based on our feelings. God’s command to us is to walk in the spirit, so as not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-17).
We start this process by renewing our minds with God’s Word. The more time we spend finding out how God wants us to live from His Word and put it to practice, the easier it would be to check our emotions, when they seem to want to get the better of us.

Romans 12:1-2 KJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

Checking our emotions is not some sort of final destination that we reach. It’s an ongoing process because as long as we are still in this human body, we would have our flesh to contend with. It doesn’t by default act the way God wants it to, we have to deliberately make an effort to make it to. It can be trained to such a point as to discern good and evil though:
Hebrews 5:14 KJV
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

The Christian journey is a race (1 Corinthians 9:24), and it’s been commonly referred to as a marathon. Don’t beat yourself up to much if you fail in this area or others, we’re all a work in progress. Recognise your failures, repent of your sins and wrongdoings and keep moving forward. Don’t dwell on your failures too much, look up to JESUS, He’s very well able to see you through (Hebrews 12:2; Colossians 1:21-23; 2:6; 3:1-2).

All that is needed for us to live godly lives, after the pattern of JESUS on this earth has been given us through knowing JESUS:

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.” 2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭3-4‬ MSG

 

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 KJV

 

READ, STUDY, MEMORISE, MEDITATE ON AND DO THE WORD! You’ll know JESUS better by doing so, it will show your love for God and JESUS will reveal more of Himself to you (John 14:21&23).

Keep running the race. Keep the faith. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Keep moving forward!

God bless you 🙂
(c) Lydia for PneumaWord.