Life Lessons from Biblical Marriages and Parents: The Fiery Furnace

I know I am totally jumping across several (okay, lots) of Books here, but this lesson has been in my head and heart for the past couple of days and I just had to get it out. As you read, I am not making any kind of announcement (smile).

Our pastor began a new sermon series this week called "Rediscovering Hope: Beyond the Headlines...Hope Can Still Be Found".  Our pastor began the sermon with a visit to some recent headlines concerning the 33 miners that had been trapped underground.  As messages were being relayed back and forth from the rescuers and the miners, one miner, the youngest of the group, sent up the message, "There are actually 34 of us because God has never left us."  Powerful!

I immediately thought of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. While they were in the the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar said that he saw not three men in the fire but four, and the fourth looked "like a son of the gods!" (Daniel 3:25, NAS)

I began thinking, "We are not a family of three, but a family of four!"  The Bible says in Psalm 127:1 that "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it."  Although I have always considered the Lord as being a vital part of our marriage and family, I never saw it quite like this before. 

Wherever we are, there is always One more in our group.  We must go by faith and not by sight.  Our eyes only see what is human, faith sees past that and knows that the Lord is with us. 

What comfort there is in knowing that the Lord Jesus is with us, by our side, wherever we are. 

We are not a family of three, but a family of four!