Where Is God When I Go Through the Fire?

I was pregnant with my third child, only weeks away from my due date, when intense pain suddenly swept through my body. The pain was so severe that I wanted to cry. Chills shot through me, and I was shaking uncontrollably. I knew something was very, very wrong.

I called my midwife, who told me to go to the hospital. When I arrived, they told me I wasn’t in labor. I knew that already. This was my third child, and I wasn’t there because I thought I was having a baby. I was there because something was seriously wrong. I had a fever of 105 degrees. They gave me a pain shot, told me to drink cranberry juice, and sent me home.

But when I got home, I knew things were not okay. I could barely walk. The pain in my back was unbearable, and my fever would not go down. I prayed for my baby. I prayed that God would keep her safe because I knew that whatever was happening to my body could not be healthy or safe for her.

The next morning, a nurse called to check on me. The moment I heard her voice, I began to cry. I told her what was happening, and she was shocked that I had been sent home. She looked at my charts and discovered that I had a kidney infection. She immediately called in antibiotics. By the time my family brought me the medication, I was only able to take one pill before I went into labor.

I was rushed back to the hospital, and I delivered my beautiful baby girl. But my body was still fighting the infection. I was shaking violently and uncontrollably, and my fever was still extremely high. Yet my focus wasn’t on myself. It was on my baby girl. I wanted to know that she was going to be okay.

Right there in the hospital, God gave me a promise in my heart: He was going to see us through what lay ahead. I knew I would have to walk through an incredibly difficult trial, but I also knew I would not be walking through it alone.

Near the end of those first 24 hours, the hospital rushed my baby girl into the NICU. They told me she had sepsis, a serious bloodstream infection that can be extremely dangerous for a newborn. Suddenly, my tiny baby was surrounded by wires, medications, and monitors. She was so little, yet she was fighting for her life.

But I wasn’t afraid in the way I could have been. I knew the Lord was with us. I leaned completely into Him. I asked God for supernatural healing—for my body, which had just given birth, and for my newborn baby who was fighting a serious infection.

Bound but Not Abandoned

When I think about those days in the hospital, I'm reminded of the picture we find in Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not rescued from the furnace before they entered it. They were bound and thrown directly into the fire.

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Daniel 3:23

The furnace was so hot that the men who threw them into it were killed by the flames. Yet Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived.

We are not promised that we will never face trials and tribulations. There will be seasons when we feel bound by fear, grief, uncertainty, disappointment, or pain. There will be moments when it feels as though the circumstances surrounding us are trying to push us down and consume us. But even there, we can continue to trust the Lord.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king. He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:24-25

They had been thrown into the fire, bound and seemingly alone. But when Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw them walking freely, accompanied by a fourth man. God did not keep them from entering the furnace. Instead, He met them there.

This is such an important truth for us to remember. Sometimes we pray, “God, please keep me from this.” And sometimes His answer is, “I will walk through this with you.” God is not standing against us in our suffering. He is not abandoning us in the furnace. He is present with us, sustaining us with His grace and giving us strength for each moment.

Reminders of God's Faithfulness

During those difficult days, God continued to remind me that He was near. There were long hours sitting beside my baby while she cried as nurses poked and prodded her with needles. There were long nights in the hospital parking lot as ambulances and medical helicopters arrived with other emergencies. And there was my tiny baby lying in the NICU, fighting an infection.

One day, after my husband went to church, he returned to the hospital and handed me a $100 bill. Someone at church had anonymously given it to him to help with our hospital expenses. To someone else, it might have seemed like a simple act of kindness. To me, it felt like another reminder from God:

“I see you. I know what you need. I am with you.”

Through it all, I knew God was there. He didn't make those days easy. He didn't make the fear disappear simply because I loved Him. Instead, He gave me His presence in the middle of it.

Never Alone in the Fire

My baby girl remained in the hospital for seven days. And then, praise the Lord, she was released, completely healed from her sepsis. She had no lasting side effects from the infection or the lifesaving treatment she received. But when I look back on those days, the greatest thing I remember isn’t simply that God brought us out of the fire.

I remember that He was with us in it.

What fiery trial are you facing today? Whatever your circumstances, cling to Jesus. Run to Him. Trust Him with the outcome, even when you don't understand what He is doing. You may not know how long the fire will last. You may not know what God will choose to do.

But you can know this: Jesus is with you in the fire, and whatever you are facing, you do not have to walk through it alone.