#11 Holy Wit – Sidecar Reflections I Am With You: Courage Rooted in God’s Nearness – Daniel 3 The Smell of Smoke It happened in the break room. Not a furnace. Not a king. Just fluorescent lighting and a microwave that hummed louder than necessary. Someone had said something that wasn’t quite right — not outrageous, not headline-worthy, just wrong enough to sting. There was a pause. You could feel it in the air. The kind of pause where everyone waits to see who will laugh, who will nod, and who will quietly let it pass. He didn’t clear his throat. He didn’t preach. He didn’t stand up straighter than usual. He just said, gently, “I’m not comfortable with that.” The room shifted. Not violently. Not dramatically. But shifted. Someone rolled their eyes. Someone else stared into their coffee. The conversation moved on, though not in the same direction. Later that afternoon, he wondered if it had been worth it. No applause came. No one pulled him aside to commend his integrity. The day simply continued, as most days do. But something had changed. He had not bowed. And no one threw him into a furnace. That’s usually how it works. Daniel 3 gives us the dramatic version — the blazing furnace, the king’s rage, the heat turned seven times hotter. But most of us live the quieter version: moments when obedience costs us social ease, approval, or advancement. The three young men in Babylon did not make speeches. They did not insult the king. They did not organize resistance. They simply refused. “Our God is able… but if not…” That sentence is not bravado. It is surrender. They were not performing courage. They were resting in God. There is a difference. In our time, courage is often loud. It is broadcast. It is declared and reposted and amplified. If conviction is expressed strongly enough, we are told that is strength. If we stand firmly enough, that proves we are right. But Daniel 3 does not present men trying to prove themselves. It presents men who already belong to God. That is why they can say “But if not.” If courage is rooted in outcome, you must win. If courage is rooted in ego, you must be seen. If courage is rooted in God’s nearness, you only have to obey. The furnace in Daniel 3 is real. The soldiers die. The heat consumes. But the great surprise is not the survival — it is the Presence. “I see four men… and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” God does not always prevent the fire. He often joins us in it. And notice what burns. Not their skin. Not their hair. Not even the smell of smoke lingers. The only thing burned away was what bound them. That is how courage rooted in God works. It does not always remove the heat. It removes the chains. Most of us will never face a literal furnace. But we will face moments where obedience costs something. A promotion. A friendship. A reputation. A comfortable silence. And in those moments, the question is not, “Will I win?” The question is, “Is He with me?” The promise running through the “I Am With You” series is not that God will eliminate every fire. It is that He will not abandon us inside one. That changes how we stand. We do not stand to prove our purity. We do not stand to signal our virtue. We stand because we are not alone. And often, when we step out of the heat, we discover something quiet and holy: The fire did not destroy us. It refined us. And there is no smell of smoke. #HolyWitBibleStudy #GordonMcGinnis #IAmWithYou #Daniel3

#11 Holy Wit – Bible Study The Fourth Man in the Fire (I Am With You: Courage Rooted in God’s Nearness – Daniel 3) Scripture Reading (NKJV): Daniel 3:16–18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:24–25 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Daniel 3 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+3&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 1. Courage Before the Furnace Daniel 3 is not about reckless defiance. It is about settled conviction. The three young exiles do not shout. They do not protest. They simply refuse. Their courage is rooted not in outrage, but in allegiance. They confess two truths simultaneously: God is able to deliver — and even if He does not, they will not bow. Courage here is not confidence in outcome, but faithfulness in obedience. They stand without guarantee of rescue. Daniel 3:17–18 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+3%3A17-18&version=NKJV Hebrews 11:34 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A34&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 2. The Cost Dimension of Courage This is exile. They have already lost homeland, temple, and freedom. Now they face execution. Biblical courage is rarely pre-battle triumphalism; it is often mid-persecution endurance. The furnace is heated seven times hotter. The soldiers who throw them in die. The threat is real. Courage in Scripture does not minimize danger — it magnifies God’s worth above it. 1 Peter 4:12–13 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+4%3A12-13&version=NKJV Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43%3A2&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 3. The Presence in the Fire The great surprise of Daniel 3 is not that the men survive — it is that they are not alone. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure. The king of Babylon becomes the first evangelist of the miracle. Whether described as “the Son of God” or an angelic deliverer, the theological point is unmistakable: God does not always prevent the fire, but He joins His people in it. They are not merely preserved. They are walking. Bound when thrown in — loose inside the flames. The fire that threatened them becomes the setting of divine fellowship. Matthew 28:20 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A20&version=NKJV Psalm 66:10–12 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+66%3A10-12&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 4. Courage Vindicated, God Exalted When they emerge, there is no smell of smoke. No singed hair. Not even the scent of judgment lingers. The only thing burned away was their bondage. The king who demanded worship now praises their God. Courage rooted in God’s nearness becomes public testimony. Exile becomes witness. Courage in Daniel 3 is not about expressing personal conviction — it is about honoring God when obedience is costly. Their refusal to bow was not a political statement or a declaration of independence. It was worship under pressure. Acts 5:29 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5%3A29&version=NKJV 2 Corinthians 4:8–10 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A8-10&version=NKJV ________________________________________ Reflection Questions Where are you tempted to bow for safety rather than stand for faithfulness? How does the phrase “But if not…” shape your understanding of real courage? Have you experienced God’s presence more deeply in trial than in comfort? What bonds might God be burning away through your current fire? ________________________________________ Prayer Points Thank God that He does not abandon His people in suffering. Ask for courage rooted in obedience rather than outcome. Pray for faith that says, “But if not,” without wavering. Ask that your trials would magnify God rather than your fear. ________________________________________ For further study (NKJV): Isaiah 41:10 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+41%3A10&version=NKJV Hebrews 13:5–6 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A5-6&version=NKJV Revelation 1:17–18 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+1%3A17-18&version=NKJV #HolyWitBibleStudy #GordonMcGinnis #IAmWithYou #Daniel3

Daniel 3:14-18 (KJV) Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. This quote is by Ellen White Prophet and Kings Page 508 Men of implicit From the history of their fathers [the Hebrew ] had learned that disobedience to God rudely in dishonor, disaster, and death; and the fear of the Lord in the beginning of wisdom, the foundation of all true prosperity.... Their faith strengthened as they declared that God would be glorified by delivering them,and with triumphant assurance born of implicit trust in God, they added, "But if not,be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not service gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up"[Daniel3:18].