Biblical heroes - who is yours?

  A thought for you to ponder today...

                      Who is your Biblical hero?

  Now wait, before you answer — don't just pull out the name of the one you liked best years and years ago in Sunday school.  Who is your Biblical hero now??  And more to the point: why?

  I'm not thinking about this because it's an interesting question.  I really think every Christ-follower should have a Biblical hero; and who that ends up being may change a few times as you and your faith grow.

                                                 
  When I was younger, I probably would have said my hero was Esther.  Because...she has an amazing story, and she became queen, and she saved her people, and she's one of the heroes girls are supposed to choose from, and... stuff like that.  Sure, many of those reasons are legitimate, and some I'd even keep today; seriously, Esther was an amazing woman.  She'd still rank among my top 10 in Scripture.

                                 

  But the person in the Bible I was really most inspired by at that time was Joseph.  His story was riveting.  And despite everything, despite a whirlwind of terrifying situations and seemingly hopeless outcomes that stretched over many years, he didn't push God away, or turn to bitterness, strain for desperate self-promotion, or turn to pride when his life finally began to take an upward turn.

  Joseph is a fantastic example of how our God refines us like silver.  Silver naturally has impurities that need to be removed. (*cough*...young Joseph's little ongoing thing with prideful bragging and such... *cough*)  The silversmith has to take extreme care, holding the silver over the flames at just the right distance to achieve the perfect heat; too hot, and the silver will burn and be unusable, but too cool, and the silver will remain unchanged and retain its impurities.

  ...But God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take.

                                                                                     1 Corinthians 10:13b

  As the silver slowly softens and liquefies, the impurities float to the surface where they can be carefully removed.  All the while, the silversmith watches with rapped attention, until at last, instead of cloudy grey, he can see his own reflection in the now-pure silver.  And so it is with us;  slowly, slowly being refined while under fire until we reach Eternity and finally reflect our Maker.

  I'm still very inspired by Joseph.  I always will be.  But since my late teens, another set of Biblical heroes has been seriously impacting and inspiring me.

  Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

                                                 

  Yeah, a lot of things about being a teen or young adult (or any age, really) in America are hard today.  But none of us has faced what Daniel and his friends were thrown into;  captured in their early teens and taken to be indoctrinated -literally- in a culture that was completely hostile to their faith.

  Yet instead of raving angrily, or trying to escape and run home on their own strength, or taking the easy rout of giving in totally, or "blending in" and going along with the Babylonian culture "but not really meaning it" (however that kind of argument is supposed to be better), they held their ground.  For year after year after year.  All their lives.  And God honored and used and blessed them mightily for it.  They were diplomatic when they had to resist, they honored authority, they were diligent and excellent in the skills and gifts God had given them, and they were unshakeable in their faith and convictions.  Even when it meant they would be thrown to ravenous lions or tossed in a molten furnace.

  ...If you do not stand firm in faith, you will not stand at all.

                                                                            Isaiah 7:9b

  Their courage and wisdom in such hostile conditions spurs me on to learn to be unwavering and wise and faithful in any situations I come up against.  With that kind of inspiration, I have no excuses.  And a million fears are quieted.

                                             

  So then—  who is your Biblical hero?  How about Paul?  Or Timothy?  Or Noah?  Or a guy named Benaiah, one of David's Mighty Men, who actually chased a lion into a pit and killed it - how about him?  Or what about any number of the un-named but nonetheless important people who appear all throughout Scripture — is one of them your hero?

  I'd like to submit to you that you need to find a person in Scripture who inspires you;  you need more than fictional story characters to call you out and inspire you to greatness.  You need real people who actually lived, too.  I think that's one reason the Bible is full of them; to urge us on.  Otherwise we get stuck thinking it'll be fine to live out our lives just "holding down the fort" and being a good person.  Sorry, not going to fly.

  'God is our Refuge, our Shield.  But He is also our Banner — the God who goes before us, the God who fights for us!

Jesus didn't die to keep you safe.  He died to make you dangerous!

...So do what you were destined to do.  Chase the lion! '

                                                                            —Mark Batterson, 'Chase The Lion'

  I want to challenge you to find yourself a Biblical hero this year if you don't have one already.  And not just one you pull out of a hat.  Find one that lights a fire in your soul because of who they are, what they did, and what God did on their behalf.

  And if you already do have a Biblical hero, read their story again in the coming months.  Take some time, even just a half an hour, and define what it is that inspires you about them.

  I know I need to do this more often myself, with all different characters in Scripture — to help me keep my eyes on the 'further up and further in', beyond the comfortable, dangerous rut of seeing only the 'now'.  That's one of the ways we become dangerous salt and light against the enemy, one of the ways we learn how to (as wordsmith N.D. Wilson puts it)  'pollute the shadows.'

  So friends, let's find us some real heroes to emulate.

  "And did they tell you stories 'bout the Saints of old,

stories about their faith?

They say stories like that make a boy grow bold,

stories like that make a man walk straight."

                                                           (—Rich Mullins)

(As always, all quotes and images belong to their original owners -- they are displayed here for inspiration only.)

Trust, a furnace, and Daniel chapter 3

I'm always inspired by the stories of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and their courage and faithfulness even while living in a land full of opposition.

 

One example in particular really stands out to me:

 

Daniel 3:17-18

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us and bring us out alive. He will save us from your powerful hand, O king.

But even if He doesn't, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."

 

For one thing, it takes a ton of courage to say something like that to the most powerful king in the world at the time. Especially when he's furious with you.  But what really gets me are those five words near the end: But even if He doesn't...

 

They thought they were going to die.

 

Think about that. They didn't know the end of the story. They couldn't turn to Daniel 3 in their Bibles and say, "Oh, it'll be fine. God's definitely going to protect us, and when we come out of that furnace, we're not even going to smell like smoke. So therefore, Mr. threatening king, we have something to tell you..."  No, most of the Bible hadn't even been written yet, the first five books of the Old Testament.

 

They realized that, while God certainly could work a miracle and give them a chance to escape, or even bring them safely through the fire, He didn't have to. They knew very well that it might not be in His sovereign will to protect them in this, and they were ok with that.  They were going to be faithful even if it meant being burned alive.

 

So, they were tied (by some of the king's strongest men—interesting note...) and thrown into the furnace heated seven times more than usual. (yikes! There was a "usual"? I'm sure that "usual" was nothing like a warm bathtub or a nice little campfire...) I mean, that fire was so hot that just the opening of the furnace doors killed the guards opening them! And you thought it was hot work opening the oven door...  And not just pushed in, but thrown, meaning they had to fall a long way into the fire.

 

I wonder what was going through their minds as they were being thrown in?  Maybe nothing—just terror. I'd guess they were praying. Hard.

 

But the other thing that strikes me is that forth Person who met them in the fire. Who was that? An angel? Maybe... But many scholars believe it was Jesus, the pre-incarnate Christ.  Wow.  I'll bet Nebuchadnezzar was way more than just surprised, shocked, or even astonished.

 

Then the king (who had obviously come just to watch the punishment of three traitors) yelled to them to come out, and and not even one hair on their heads had been singed.  The Most High God had shown Himself to His faithful children, and a stubborn king, who had to admit that "...No other god can save in this way."