2. week 2, “walking…”

3. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4, NRSV

4. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4, NRSV

5. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4, NRSV

6. 2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. 3For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalm 73:2, NRSV

7. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… 5Do not fear, for I am with you;
Isaiah 43:2-3 & 5, NRSV

8. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… 5Do not fear, for I am with you;
Isaiah 43:2-3 & 5, NRSV

10. 6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
I Peter 1:6-7, NRSV

12. “That despair was the greatest gift, in a sense, that could be given to me… Just didn’t know it at the time, but I am so thankful for it now.”
~Anonymous

13. God doesn’t cause us to walk through suffering because He gets some twisted sense of satisfaction from our pain… Often He allows us to walk through the fire because we will not survive what’s coming next if the impurities that exist within us remain.

14. God doesn’t cause us to walk through suffering because He gets some twisted sense of satisfaction from our pain… Often He allows us to “walk through the fire” because we will not survive what’s coming next if the impurities that exist within us remain.

15. Becoming hopeless about the hopeless strategies and relationships in your life is a gift!

17. 15bif you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?
~Daniel 3:15b NRSV

18. 17If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” ~Daniel 3:17-18 NRSV

19. 24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.”
~Daniel 3:24-25 NRSV

20. 26Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men;
~Daniel 3:26-27 NRSV

21. 27bthe hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. 28Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
~Daniel 3:27b-28 NRSV

22. 29Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” 30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
~Daniel 3:29-30 NRSV

24. God’s presence becomes More visible, tangible, and “experienceable” while walking through suffering.

25. If you worship comfort it will often be at the expense of His presence
If you worship comfort it will often be at the expense of His presence. If you experience His presence, it will often be at the expense of your comfort.

26. God had been with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the whole time… But He only became visible when they were walking with Him in the fiery furnace.

27. 29Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” 30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
~Daniel 3:29-30 NRSV

28. If you are walking through suffering right now, the potential for God to be visible in your life has never been greater!