“Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the Fourth Man is like the Son of God”
Osondu Anyalechi
King David, in his Psalm 23:6, said, “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever”. Daddy David was thus, very sure that the best of our God will be the portion of all God’s children as long as we are alive, and continue to remain in faith. To a beloved Christian brother, and I agree with him, ‘Goodness’ and ‘Mercy’ are two angels God has detailed to follow believers anywhere we go. We may not be seeing them always, yet, they are around, guarding us.
READ ALSO: How I won God’s Children Great Talent’s millions – Esther Benyeogo
Are there not unpalatable situations that have dogged your steps and somebody you have never met emerges from the blues and renders a helping hand and then leaves? I tell my wife at such situations, that it is God’s angel at work. In Daniel 3, God gave Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the rare privilege of seeing a Heavenly Guard. That was after he had made an image of gold and decreed during its dedication, that at the sound of music, everybody in the realm must fall down and worship it. The penalty for disobedience was grave: to be bound hands and feet and thrown into a fiery-burning furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, three Hebrew men in his government, refused to obey his ungodly law since God abhors the worship of idols.
Some of the overzealous people in his kingdom reported these faithful Jews to him, even lying that our brethren had no regard for him. In great rage, he commanded that they should be brought before him. Asking them whether the accusation was true, he offered them a tempting reprieve. “If you are ready, fall down now and worship my god?” he told them, rehearsing the implication of disobeying his order. True believers respect people but do not fear anybody, death threat, notwithstanding. About thirty years ago, my big boss in Texaco Oversees Petroleum Oil Company was stunned at the two occasions he tried to lure me out of faith by telling me that my growth in the company would depend on the way I chose to practise my Christianity, and unlike magma, I refused to melt. I paid for it, losing much money and the privilege of living in Ikoyi or Victoria Island. What I gained in Christ, Praise God, surpassed the loss over a million times!
The king asked them, in the most scathing manner, why they refused to worship his god. Their answer remains a challenge to all believers, especially, those who compromise their faith because of money or position. The three Ambassadors of God told him that they would not worship his god, but the Living God, and that He would deliver them from his hand. “If He chooses not to do so,” they told him, that they would still worship Him. He was exasperated and ordered the burning furnace to be heated seven times over, and that they should be bound and thrown inside it by some of his mighty men. The furnace was so heated that it burned to death those men, who threw God’s people there. You see!
READ ALSO: Challenges facing African males in America (1)
When Uncle Nebuchadnezzar went there, perhaps, to see what remained of their bones, he saw what he never conjectured, even in his wildest imagination, and in fact, what nobody would ever think of. A strange and eerie silence consumed him. Wading into irrational maze of mental wandering, he wondered whether he had lost his memory at any time, and then sought his people’s confirmation, if it was not only three men they cast into the furnace. “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the Fourth Man is like the Son of God,” he said. Glory! Imagine such a sight! Imagine such a wonder! He ordered their release. Who would not – God’s children? His officers and all the people saw these three men, who could not be burnt, neither were their hairs singed! Salvaged, confused, lacerated… he worshiped the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and decreed that everybody in the realm must do so. He then promoted them, God’s people!
In the Scripture Union, they taught us to sing, ‘I am not alone, in all my doing, Jesus is with me’. We may be thin or fat, tall or short, black or white, educated or not, rich or poor, one thing is common, we are not alone: the Fourth Man, the Lord Jesus, is with us! Those, who delight in fighting God’s children for no purpose, should know that we are not alone.
In was obvious in a certain company that their Managing Director would retire soon, while his Deputy, a child of God, would take-over from him. A lady, not a professional in that professional company, vowed that he would not smell that position. Forgetting that ambition, according to Shakespeare, is made of a sterner stuff, she wanted to occupy the position, though unqualified, boasting that the Deputy must be sacked. During our vigil in FESTAC, I raised the prayer topic. We turned her ambition upside down, insisting that the Deputy must become the Managing Director. We did not consult anybody for help, nor was any of us in the company’s Board to influence anything. Our confidence was that where our legs could not reach, the Fourth Man would go for us. And He did! Not long after, our prayer was answered, causing her bloated pride to burst like bubbles as the Deputy became the Managing Director. Yes, the Mystery of the Fourth Man!
Did the Jewish leaders not gather secretly, plotting against Apostle Paul? Did they succeed? Unknown to them, the Fourth Man was there hearing, noting and frustrating their deliberations. Enemies can assess human guards before attacking their master but it is not so, when the Heavenly Guards are on duty, because nobody knows their number and location. Glory! The mystery of the Fourth Man!
My farm’s Manager, a child of God, gave a contract job to a man and he left it halfway and still had the effrontery to request for payment. When my manager refused to pay him, he went to his house and brought his juju. Refusing to be intimidated, my Manager asked him facetiously, “Do you think that there is nothing that gives a man the guts for him to leave his village, and then travelled all the way from Abia State to work here?” The man, with his juju, fled with a deep flutter in his stomach, thinking that he was referring to his juju. My manager, though he was the son of a most powerful native doctor, was relying really on the protection of the Fourth Man! His dad, thanks to God, one day, surrendered to the Lord Jesus, dumping his shrine, which was burnt by his new Church – Deeper Life Bible Church. The Fourth Man!
READ ALSO: Deeper Life Church builds bridge, car park, others in Lagos
________________________________