Sometimes life gets a little fiery. Things go wrong, good is threatened, and you’re left to face an uncertain situation that could get worse. What do you do when you start feeling the heat? What do you do when the flames grow bigger? What do you do when things go up in smoke?

Where is God when the fires blaze in your life? Does he not have the power to stop it, or does he just not care enough to do something about it? Which is it, because sometimes we just really want to know why bad things happen to good people. If our God is both powerful and loving, then why isn’t he showing up with blaring sirens and flashing lights in your fire?

I’m not one of those perfect believers that has never asked why? I’m going to be real honest with you and tell you there have been times where my 911 emergency prayers seemed to have been unanswered and some one else’s 411 information prayers were immediately picked up. (411 – remember that? The number you called for information. It was the google for rotary phones.)

I’m over here praying that 911 prayer of ‘Lord, please save us from losing our home’ while God seemed to be busy answering someone’s 411 prayer of ‘Lord, where should I go to get my haircut.’ What the heck … shouldn’t God have some sort of emergency response system that manages the level of importance? I’m on fire over here and you’re occupying God with your no nothing requests?

And it was that thinking that led me to only praying when it was big. God became my 911 call. He was only to be contacted for emergency purposes. And if I called on him in prayer when it wasn’t a real emergency, I might be fined or something. Seriously, that’s the way I viewed prayer. Why? Because in my head he was busy doing bigger, more important things for people in bigger fires than my own. Is that the way you treat prayer? Your knees are reserved for when you really can’t stand?

What a trick of the enemy to make us look around in our fire and believe God is answering insignificant requests while ignoring our own. What a nasty twist of the truth to make us believe God can only handle one request at a time, so instead of bringing everything to the Father, we stand at the back of the line as if our needs aren’t important.

Honey, there is no line! What are you waiting for?

God is omnipresent. While he sees me here in Florida, he sees Becca in California, Melita in Serbia, and Nikka, Marvie and Inah in the Philippines. His presence here with me does not cause his absence there with you. He is here, he is there, and he is everywhere. We put limits on God. He is unlimited.

In Genesis 1 we read of God creating the heavens and the Earth in 6 days. Then it says in verse 31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”

He saw it all. He saw the mountains, the seas, the islands, the deserts, the constellations, the far away planets, the vast depth of the universe we will never even discover, he saw it and decided it was very good. He was here and there at the same time. His eye was on the icy planet of Pluto while he designed the details of the rivers on Earth. Just as he watches me today while he watches you today. He responds to my prayers and your prayers at the same time, and honey he isn’t the slightest bit overwhelmed.

You’re not burdening God with your requests. You’re not stealing his power from anyone in greater need. If you have a fire raging in your life, talk to God about it. But hey sis, you don’t have to wait until the flames are a threat … you can talk to God before there’s even a hint of smoke. He cares. He’s here. His power is for you.

Remember the story of the 3 guys who were thrown into a fiery furnace by the King because they refused to worship his golden statue? It’s the first Bible story I ever remember hearing as a teen. My family didn’t go to Church, but my boyfriend went to a little country church where the youth met on Sunday mornings in the basement. I went for him … Jesus was there for me.

I heard about the 3 guys with funky names, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego, and how these guys had so much faith in God. At the time I didn’t even know who this God was, but I was interested in knowing what he could do in my life. So, I listened. I learned about this God who could saved these guys from going in the fire, but he didn’t. I learned about this God who let people of unshakable faith go right in the fire when he could have stopped it. And I learned about a God who used it all for good. A God who had a bigger plan at work and through the fire he would work.

THROUGH THE FIRE GOD WORKS.

I would rather he never allow the fires. I would prefer a preventative measure and a presoak of water … but guess what … then I would probably complain about the soaking water and ask for it to be dry. Sometimes God soaks us in a torrential downpour, and sometimes he allows wildfires to grow. But this is God working. This is our opportunity to trust.

Read the story in Daniel 3. What I love most about Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego is they had so much faith in God they said to the threatening King “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it … But even if he does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

God is ABLE to save us from this fire, but even if he does not, I will trust him.

Whatever you’re going through right now, God sees it and he cares about it. You can ask him to help you here. He’s not too busy. His eye is on you and every detail concerning you. He may put out the fire immediately … or he may not. He may let you walk right through this fire. But here’s the promise … he will be right there with you. You will not walk this alone.

When the King looked into the furnace he was amazed to see 4 in the fire instead of just 3. He then knew, their God was in the fire with them. And this changed everything. Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego walked out of that fire unharmed and the King vowed to follow their God, and as the leader of the country he lead others to faith as well.

How you walk through this fire makes a difference in not only your life, but in the lives of others. Others are watching you. Will they see you walking with God? Will they see you struggle and keep going in faith? Will they see how God uses all of this for good?

You don’t have to hide your struggles … if you hide your struggles you hide how God strengthens as well. We’re all here struggling together. We’re all staring down fires and fighting flames. And not a single one of us is alone. In this fire with you is a mighty God who sees it all, knows it all, and is using it all for good.