Through the Fire
Recently, I was fired from my job at a Church. I had been on the Creative Team there for 4 years.
For the first couple of days, I strained to grapple with faith as a lens for my situation —that this was an ordained act of God —and I still feel this way. However, the way that it happened left me feeling hurt, confused, and betrayed. Working in my role there, I had never felt safe. When my role began, it was during the penultimate months of a different group of leaders. But almost immediately, a bait-and-switch happened, and I found myself the target of a series of newer, more conservative administrations.
The Golden Image
Integrity is hard to maintain when you feel threatened. But it is often in hard times that our true character is revealed.
In Daniel 3, we read a familiar story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were the three Hebrew boys who refused to bow to the king's image at the threat of being thrown into a fiery furnace.
In the face of growing tension — not just in my situation but in the state of the world — this story is an excellent lens through which to interpret. With events like the election of Donald Trump, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and the mass deportation of immigrants, I have felt this overwhelming sense of frustration when it comes to identifying myself with Christianity. The Christianity that seems to be agreed upon aligns more with the large golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar than its self-identification with the three Hebrew boys (which, if we are being honest, they would be trying to deport). This has created a strange phenomenon in churches whose views lean more conservative. For those who this rhetoric affects, we are left with the moral dilemma of either bowing to preserve a sense of normalcy or resisting at the threat of our livelihood.
I refused to bow.
The charge that was nailed to my cross was "insubordination". But really, I refused to take it anymore. My responsibility as a creative is primarily to inspire and execute effectively. The responsibility of any organization, creative director, or team lead is to cultivate an environment that fuels that inspiration. That environment was one that we had been fighting for over 4 years. But a lack of trust, rest, and investment in the creative team manifested in an environment of burnout, stress, and frustration. So, Salome danced, and I, John, was beheaded.
On the day I was let go, our communications lead came in with a stack of highlighted timesheets and emails ready to argue with me about why this decision was justified. But I remained silent. The weight of being restricted had ended. The decision was made. Why spend time arguing about it and begging to stay in a dysfunctional place?
The Response
Daniel 3:16-17 says something powerful! When the three Hebrew boys are brought before Nebuchadnezzar for not bowing, the king asks them why. This is their response:
"King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand." (Daniel 3:16-17)
This verse has been drawing me back into faith during this time. They said, "We don't have to defend ourselves right now. God is able and God will deliver."
The trap from the enemy is for you to spend your time explaining yourself to Pharaoh, digging your own wheels in the mud, while a twenty-ton wave is coming to wash you both away. In other words, why should you have to justify yourself to what God is bringing you out of? GOD IS defending you! And GOD WILL deliver!
When I read this verse, I spend a whole morning running around my living room chanting, "GOD IS and GOD WILL!" The following statement is just as powerful when they say, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace…" So, even if we — or you—whatever the worst outcome you can imagine in your situation, God is able to bring you out. Why? Because GOD IS bigger, better, and more capable of sustaining you than anything there is.
GOD WILL not leave you or forsake you because GOD IS the solid rock on which I stand!
GOD WILL sustain you because GOD IS the bread of life!
GOD WILL order your steps because GOD IS the good shepherd!
His Hand
Why? Because, while Nebuchadnezzar thinks those Hebrew boys were in his hand, all of them were in God's hands. Nothing escapes the grip of God!
In verse 18, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego continue saying: "But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:18)
Why would they add that? Even if deliverance doesn't take the shape we expect, that doesn't diminish how God is moving in the situation. Even if they weren't rescued from the fiery furnace, the king and his golden statue couldn't have offered them anything anyway. What I find so compelling about this story, in light of my current situation, is that what everyone else saw as a punishment, to God, was formation. The furnace is the place where metal is heated so it can be molded and strengthened. While molding and strengthening aren't fun, it is necessary for longevity.
In other words, "even if I experience the worst possible thing, I'm in his hands. He's using it for my good to make me stronger and better!
Fast forward to Hebrews 12:18-29, where the author explains that the presence of God for Moses was hard to approach because it was a "mountain…burning with fire." But through the access made possible by Jesus, our mediator, we can have confidence and even be thankful that "our God is a consuming fire."
In this tough season, I am leading with that lens. I may have been thrown in the furnace for not bowing, but Jesus is in here with me.
He is the fire that will strengthen me. GOD IS able to sustain me.
GOD WILL deliver me to what he has next.
I don't have to be stuck in the trap of explaining myself to those who won't get it.
