Faith of Steel

I've been prepping today for a new sermon series and as I was looking back at a sermon from last January, I was reminded of some things I said this time last year about faith of steel. The message was from Daniel 3 about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and what happened after they were thrown in the firey furnace. Here's what I wrote:


Something amazing happens here: King Neb sees four men in the fire. How many people were thrown in? Three. But there are four walking around unharmed – their ropes burned off. Who was the fourth? Neb doesn’t know – looks like some kind of God but he doesn’t know. But we know who it was: It was Jesus Christ himself – God’s Son made an appearance in that fire with the trio. MEGAFACT: Jesus is always with us in the fire. He is always there! Here’s what He does: He either saves us from it (plucks us out) or He walks through it with us and protects us the entire way.

Are you in the fire today? If you know Christ, look around because you are not alone! Isaiah 43:2-3, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior . . .” Jesus is always with us in the fire.

Daniel 3:26, "Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” God’s protection in the fire was so great that they didn’t even smell like smoke. You can’t walk out of a convenience store without smelling like smoke! God’s protection!

Daniel 3:28, "Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Neb was profoundly affected by the trio’s faith of steel. He says four key words: “They trusted in him.” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted in God. They faced this huge challenge with faith of steel – not in what they could do to rescue themselves but what their God could do. They knew He was able and they trusted Him to work it out.

So how is faith of steel developed? It’s a lot like the process of making actual steel. To manufacture steel, producers mine very large rocks out of the earth’s crust. Inside of these rocks is iron ore, the raw material that is needed to produce the steel. The only way to get the iron ore out of the rock in a form that is useable is to put it in fire – it must be melted and broken down. And so the rocks are crushed and then placed into a blast furnace that is heated to over 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. The intense heat breaks the rock down until it releases the pure iron that is needed to create steel of unyielding strength.

Friends, extraordinary faith of steel is forged in the fires of life. And the hotter the fire, the purer the end product will be. Some of you are walking through the fire right now. You can’t figure out why things are happening the way they are happening. You don’t know what it’s all about. You’re wondering if God is ever going to rescue you. Promise you two things:

1. Just like He rescued Shad, Me and Abed, He will rescue you. The God we serve is able to save you from it and He will do it. Hold on.

2. If you will trust in Him, He will forge in you unyielding faith of steel - the kind of faith that will give you the hope and trust and confidence that you need to know Christ and follow Him with your life – no matter the fire, no matter the dilemma, no matter the trial.


I'm holding on because I know He will do it. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:19