“I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.” (Daniel 3:92)
Who are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They weren’t in the Children’s Illustrated Bible I had. Perhaps the story is too long, which is a shame. It’s a great and important story.
Worshipping the Golden Statue
King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for refusing to bow before a golden statue. Devout Jews, they worshipped the one, true God, unfathomable to Nebuchadnezzar, who spent his life surrounded by false gods. The Babylonians didn’t understand only one God is necessary.
Like these three, Catholics don’t “pray to” statues or idols. We gaze upon likenesses of our brothers and sisters, Mother Mary, and Father God just as we gaze upon photographs of family. We look at their images, recall their voices, tender touch, loving care. When we pray to Jesus, Mary, or saints, we pray to those in Heaven, not some spirit inside an idol. This wasn’t something Nebuchadnezzar understood (many still don’t).
Walking in the Fire
Unfortunately, I bet most of us only call on God when we we’re walking in fire. For refusing to bow before the pagan gods, these men were thrown into a white-hot, fiery furnace. Don’t we often face fire in our lives?
We’ve all walked through fire—anxiety, fear, sickness, death—bursting forth in our lives, scalding, scarring, leaving us thirsting for help and comfort. Throughout life, we face constant fires, some we start ourselves, some into which we are thrown, and many of which we fan the flames.
Unfettered and Unhurt
There’s more to this story. Once in the fire, the men don’t despair or give up. They pray to the God, lamenting they (we) are sinners, begging for mercy while praising Him. They don’t ask why God allows this nor curse Him for the flames. Rather, they offer everything, even their lives, in worship of His goodness. As proclaimed in the Responsorial Psalm, they declared God in Heaven “praiseworthy and glorious forever” (Daniel 3:53).
In response, “the angel of the Lord went down into the furnace with Azariah and his companions, drove the fiery flames out of the furnace” (Daniel 3:49). Whoa! At the most terrifying moment of their lives, surrounded by flames, they praised and glorified God, and He sent His angel, leaving them “unfettered and unhurt.”
When we feel fire, see flames, fear all is lost, we must turn to God. We must praise and glorify Him, offering everything, even our lives, in appreciation for all He does. God doesn’t promise we won’t feel the heat or be burned. He promises our souls will be unfettered and unhurt. His angels will comfort and protect us, even amidst flames.
This blog was first published on April 9, 2025 at https://catholicvineyard.com/amidst-the-flames/
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