DAILY BIBLE

Devotional

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 
—1 Peter 4:12

Peter said we shouldn’t be surprised or afraid at the painful things that happen in our lives. One way or another, we will all come face to face with a “trial by fire,” a moment in our lives when we decide if serving God is worth losing everything. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked through a fiery trial. The three young Hebrew men reached a quality decision before the king: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. . . . But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up” 

(Daniel 3:17-18). The courageous young men had determined that whether the trial burned them or they burned the trial, they were going to serve God! 

Once you have decided that you are going to withstand any trial and realize that “these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering” (1 Peter 4:13), nothing Satan throws at you can affect you. In fact, you will find that Jesus is there in the fire with you (Daniel 3:25). The only things you will lose in the fire are your chains, for they will be burned off!