May 2, 2026 Devo

When I was in junior high and high school, there was a group of us neighborhood boys who used to hang out together. We played ball, traded comics, and often stayed over at each other’s homes. But in early high school, a few of the gang began to move into stuff that a couple of us couldn’t go along with. They would steal stuff from stores. They started getting older guys to buy alcohol for them. A few started getting into drugs.
It wasn’t long before the “bad boys” of the group started putting pressure on the rest of us to go along with them. When we wouldn’t, they would laugh at us. They weren’t over the top with their pressure, but they would call us “goody-goodies” and a few other names that weren’t so nice. They made it clear that they didn’t think we were “real men” because we wouldn’t do what they did. As you can imagine, as teenage boys, none of us liked having our masculinity challenged like that. But no matter how much heat they put on us, for the most part, we stood strong. Have you ever been in scenarios like that?
The final part of the verse from Isaiah that we’ve been examining addresses dealing with this kind of pressure. “When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” This verse reminds us of the three Hebrews in the Book of Daniel. They wouldn’t bow down to the king’s image, so they were thrown into the fiery furnace to be burned up. But they weren’t burned up. When the king looked in the furnace, he saw FOUR men in the fire. And he describes the fourth man as someone who looked like a “god.” When they told them to come out of the fire, the three Hebrews not only weren’t burned, they didn’t smell like smoke! God was in the furnace with them.
Maybe you’ve been feeling the heat for your faith. Perhaps you work around people who engage in conversations or activities and pressure you to join in. Maybe you have a friend or two who tries to join in with them to cut corners you shouldn’t cut or do things you shouldn’t do or watch things you shouldn’t watch. Listen very carefully to this next one. Maybe some of you have been tempted to join in with church gossip that is being framed as “sharing.” It’s when the heat is on that we discover who we really are in Christ. Don’t compromise who you know God wants you to be. Stand up. Stay strong. And be firm in your faith. The same God who got you through the deep waters will see you through the fire as well! That’s God’s Word for you today.