After our worship service concluded Sunday morning, a friend and member of our congregation approached me and told me that – though she had barely made it to church because of excruciating pain – the Lord had relieved her pain while I was preaching. She was both touched by the inexplicable grace of Christ, and grateful to be hurting no longer. We celebrated the goodness of God.
Don’t misunderstand me for even a second. It’s nothing that I did. Saturday night I had prayed that the Lord would do something miraculous and out of the ordinary among us on the Lord’s Day. That’s not always one of my prayers, admittedly, but the reason that I had asked for such a thing is because my appetite for it had been whet by the events of the week before.
I want to tell you about those events. Some of you will say this didn’t happen. I understand that. Some will explain it away scientifically. I get that too. Some will say “I doubt it” because you weren’t there to see it with your own eyes. I understand all of that too. But please listen anyway.
Eileen and I have dear friends, more like extended family, who own a house on a gorgeous lake – a place we love – where friends and family gather throughout the summer for all that you might imagine: boating, skiing, swimming, cookouts, bonfires, relaxation, and all the delights of just such a picturesque environment. It is a respite. It’s a haven for great fun and adventure. It’s a sacred place for the renewal of relationships, prayer, and time with God. It’s a special place where you go to leave behind many of the cares of our daily grind.
This particular gathering was important for their family, because they were in the midst of making some critical decisions. Decisions with lifelong consequences. The kinds of decisions into which one enters soberly and in the fear of God. It was one of those gatherings where every conversation seemed important, because it was.
On the last night of this particular vacation, the mood was celebrative – a time for sparklers for the kids and s’mores for young and old alike. The bonfire was glowing with exceptional ferocity, and at last the time had come to prepare the one final ingredient: the flawless marshmallows. Gooey outdoor goodness on a stick. A Norman Rockwell moment if ever there were one.
Our friend, the grandmother and matriarch of the family, decided to roast the marshmallows for everybody – because the fire was too hot, high, and dangerous for the kids to get too close. A wise move, and one that would keep the long-anticipated evening treat on schedule.
Out of nowhere, the 7-year-old grandson snagged his tennis shoe on a rock. Unable to loosen it immediately – and in what seemed like less than the blink of an eye – the boy lost his balance, fell backward, and landed on the floor of the fire pit. Picture this traumatizing scene if you can: a stunned and helpless child is lying in a blazing fire, surrounded by flames from head to toe.
As you might imagine, full-blown mayhem ensued. Some of the adults froze in sheer panic, but the child’s uncle – almost autonomically – reached in and pulled the little boy out of the blazes. In the process, as you might expect, the uncle suffered some minor burns.
But here’s what you might not expect.
The little boy of whom I testify came out of the fire completely unharmed! Not a single burn. Not a singed hair. No evidence of fire on his shirt, his pants, his shoes, or his socks. No injuries whatsoever. No emergency room required. No sign that he was ever in the fire at all.
I don’t have time – and you don’t either – for me to tell you all the ways in which our gracious God is using this miracle in the lives of people – including some who are only remotely connected to this family. Even a few unbelievers are inquiring about this shocking report, and it’s clear that God has been preparing their hearts for this moment. For this particular testimony of rescue. Perhaps, for them, saving faith is on the horizon. Only the Lord knows. But we know that Christ never stops working for our good and for His glory.
And, as for the family members themselves, they’re discovering with crystal clarity those critical answers they’d been searching for. Sometimes, friends, God’s unmatched words of comfort, hope, direction, and resolve come to us in the strangest of ways.
“And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them” (Daniel 3:27).
May I quote the great theologian, Alabama?
“They wear so many faces; show up in the strangest places
To grace us with their mercy, in our time of need
Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give
To guide us with the light of love”
And the little boy himself, well, I’ll just call him Shadrach – to protect his anonymity. Since the life-changing moment that I’ve described here, he’s boldly told a number of people – whoever would have ears to listen to the voice of a child: “I went in the fire, but Jesus saved me.”
I’ll close with the astounding testimony of the pagan king who came close enough to the blazes to be enthralled by the God of Daniel’s friends: “There is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
Pastor Charles
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