Fiery Trials Can Create Despair

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

In continuing the theme of sanctification, we cannot ignore the fact that into every life, fiery trials sometimes come. It is simply part of life since the fall of humanity and it does not mean God has no control over those situations or they just happen. In fact, He often allows or directly sends them to test our faith and encourage us in our sanctification. We cannot escape these things until we leave this life in death. In the meantime, we experience fiery trials. That is not necessarily so bad although they often seem overwhelming. What often worsens these situations is the way we react to them.

To be truthful, most of us (me included), would prefer not to go through any type of trials or difficulties in this life. We want to just enjoy life until that moment the Lord takes us home. That’s simply unrealistic and we see the nature of fiery trials throughout Scripture.

God sends “downward pressures” our way. These “pressures” can cause us to feel perplexed. If we fail to push back against them biblically, our minds can lead us into a depressive state. Now being perplexed in and of itself is not the same as being depressed (what Paul calls “despair,” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9).

7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.…(emphasis added)

In the counseling curriculum I’m taking from Low Country Biblical Counseling Center, the director Tim Bryant, explains in Module 2, Lesson 6 of the Foundations: Change That Sticks! course that a good many things come into our lives as “downward pressures” that literally press down on us. They are often frustrating, perplexing and worse. The way we react to these pressures tells us a great deal about ourselves and our relationship with the Lord.

In the above Lesson 6, Tim notes that the goal is to avoid falling into a depressive state (or despair), as if we are people who have no hope. Tim first tells us what the Bible says depression/despair is not[1]:

• distressing trials (1 Peter 1:6)
• grief (John 11:33-35)
• disappointment at rejection (John 6:65-67)
• Perplexing circumstances that tempt to despair (2 Corinthians 1:8)

Depression is actually a completely negative reaction to those things. Look at that small list. They in themselves are not depression, but can lead to it if we give up! Tim’s definition of depression is this: “Depression is becoming despairing in perplexing circumstances.” He also states that “…depression is a hopeless response to a problem (often very tough), that causes an inability to handle life responsibly and biblically.” (emphasis added) So essentially, depression is having no hope at all about a situation or circumstance as though it’s too big for God to deal with and help us through.

The question is how does it go from simply being “perplexing” to full-blown “depression”?  When it arrives to the point where the person becomes completely hopeless. When we succumb to a deep sense of hopelessness we are unfortunately sinning because we are a people who have no hope.

So what does God expect us to do when we face perplexing situations that tempt us toward despair/depression? Persevere in running the race so that we do not give up and fall short (Hebrews 12:1).

Tim factors that can make it much easier for us to fall into a depressive/despairing attitude:

• Physical problems
• Neglect of our bodies and minds (including spiritual neglect)
• Unresolved guilt
• Bitterness controlling us
• Fear, anxiety and worry
• Pride
• Misplaced hope
• Intellectual neglect
• Social neglect
• Emotional neglect

So the question is how to continue persevering as a believer when you do not at all feel like doing that and you’d rather just sit there staring into the air overwhelmed by the situation? It becomes very practical.

Neglecting the things in the bulleted list can easily contribute to our mindset. Do you ignore His Word? Do you not pray or only pray superficially? Does unresolved guilt bog you down? Do you have a misplaced hope in circumstances rather than in God Himself? Do you fail to gather with other believers to help build one another up? Do you not eat properly but instead eat all kinds of junk that takes its toll on your health? Do you allow your emotions to guide you rather than you guiding what you think about and meditate on so that your emotions follow? Do any real physical issues tend to overwhelm your thinking because you dwell on them rather than looking to Jesus? This life represents a battle with evil and we are constantly under pressure to give into the temptations that seek to bind us.

This is why the metaphors of being an athlete or soldier are used throughout Scripture. It is difficult for us to understand that we are constantly in a battle against foes in the spiritual realm who need no sleep and who take delight in coming up with new ways to tempt, torment us and make life difficult.

Readers know that since February 16, 2025, when my wife was taken by emergency vehicle to a hospital ER because of what appeared to be a heart attack, life was turned upside down for us. It was harrowing for me, but of course, my wife had to deal with it as well. For her, as she told me later, if it was her time to go, she was going and would be in her Lord’s arms that very day. That’s all good for her, but then I would be left with the tremendous grief of losing the most important person in my life other than God Himself. As I contemplated the situation that evolved from February 16, I knew that losing Silvia would be something that I would carry for quite some time because I would be losing my soul mate.

Segue to now – nearly 9 months later – we have seen God miraculously resolve things. Not only did He not take Silvia from me, but He used this situation to do two things: fix her heart and to help me learn to trust Him more.

However, going through it was not easy and forced me to look at myself and my shortcomings where God was concerned. What began as a thoroughly perplexing situation eventually became something that filled me with anxiety. As I look back, I can clearly see just how God worked in this situation and I am very grateful for it. I am fully aware that at some future point, one of us will be taken from the other, but it’s always “in the far future” we think. We’ve been blessed to enjoy 40 years together. A lot of couples don’t get that. We just went to a viewing for a woman in our church who died. She and her husband were only married about five years before she developed brain cancer. My heart breaks for him in his loss.

We all face fiery trials that cause us to either reject what God is doing (leading to despair/depression), or more closely examining ourselves and our motivations in order to grow in His grace. Trials are the chief way in which God helps us grow spiritually, yet we all know that these fiery trials is not something we wish for, but it is certainly part of our ongoing sanctification process.

In Daniel 3, three young men faced death and they did so because they refused to worship a false image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up on the plain of Dura. It was quite a feat really. The Babylonians built a huge furnace out there because they needed to melt and purify so much gold to cover the statue with it.

After the statue was finished, Nebuchadnezzar issued a mandate that said everyone must stop what they were doing when they heard the music and fall down and worship the statue and the false god(s) it represented. Anyone who did not would be tossed into the fiery furnace. Unlike the mandates issued during Covid, our government could not issue the death penalty, but they made things as difficult as possible for people just to live somewhat normal lives during the “pandemic.”

In Nebuchadnezzar’s world, he made the laws and his soldiers enforced those laws. This is how the three young men – Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego – got caught up in that situation. They were accused of not bowing down to worship the image by men who were jealous of their positions in the government so they set out to topple them from those positions. This is stated in Daniel 3:8-12.

So those Chaldeans mentioned in the above text were nobles, not simply astrologers. As Dr. Thomas Constable notes, “They were in a position to profit personally from the execution of the three Jews, perhaps even to step into the government positions they occupied.”

I’m sure you’re all familiar with this type of envy. I know several people at our church who are currently dealing with it now from coworkers. It’s not easy for them, but through it they are learning to trust God to a greater degree.

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were facing the real possibility of being executed because they refused to disobey Yahweh and worship some statue that ultimately pointed to Satan/demons. What to do? What would you do if it was a choice between life and death?

In Daniel 3:16-18, as the three young men faced the real fiery trial of potential death by fire, we read their response to the king and note that they had turned themselves over to God for safe keeping. They knew that one of two things would happen: they might actually die in the fiery furnace, or two, they might not die inside the fiery furnace. In either case, they believed God would save them from the king even if they did die.

They faced their potential deaths with confidence in God. How’d they get there? They got there incrementally over time by trusting God in the smaller things until they had enough faith in Him to trust Him in this huge thing. In essence, the three young men were living their sanctification out. In other words, in facing this terribly perplexing situation, they did not give into the temptation to despair. They instead sought God all the more and God rewarded them with confidence in Him.

Interestingly enough, King Nebuchadnezzar got so angry at their refusal to acquiesce to his demands that he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter (or as hot as they could make it). He was very angry, to say the least. But also interesting is the fact that this order completely backfired on him because the soldiers who walked the three men up to the opening of the furnace were immediately killed by the flames, it was that hot.

However, the three men were unphased by the heat. That may have clued them into something God was doing for their growth and His glory. The men were tossed into the fire and only the ropes burned that bound them! They didn’t even smell like smoke.

Nebuchadnezzar certainly changed his viewpoint after that, didn’t he? He went from “Who is the god who will save you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:15), to “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” (Daniel 3:26)

The king went from complete and total arrogance to contriteness. The reality of the situation settled into Nebuchadnezzar’s heart. He went from “No one can save you!” to “Your God is amazing and He is the MOST HIGH God!” By the way, this is something that did not happen with his grandson Belshazzar (Daniel 5). It is also why God destroyed the Babylonian kingdom under Belshazzar using the Medes-Persians.

So what did we learn? God allows/sends difficulties and fiery trials into our lives for three reasons: first, to help us grow in our trust of Him. Second, to be a witness to those around us who may or may not know Him yet. Third, to bring glory and honor to Himself. This is always the formula for God. When we fail to comprehend it, we go from being perplexed to despairing/depression.

Knowing this should help us look beyond our situations in order to grasp the bigger picture. When my wife’s heart situation first cropped up, I was devastated. I didn’t at the time know why God had allowed it (and He is under zero obligation to tell me!). Of course, now I do by His grace, but more than that, I use that situation to understand not only how much God loves my wife and me, but how my testimony of that situation can affect the lives of other Christians and even of those who do not yet know Him for the better (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

We Christians are not islands. Our lives touch other people. What happens to us and how we react to situations speaks to other people – both Christians and non. We need to remember that God ultimately wants to be glorified in and through us. In order for that to happen, things must come into our lives that do not seem palatable at first. Even though our fist inclination is to try to push away from those things, God has important plans for them. He wants us to grow in our faith and exhibit greater trust in Him. We cannot do that without the downward pressures of unpalatable situations and our response to them. Will we allow what is initially perplexing to create despair/depression within us or will we do as the three men in Daniel 3 did? If we fail to focus on the hope we have in Christ Jesus, we can easily become despairing/depressed.

Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

Peter is giving us a very important key here: it is the hope we have in the grace that is given to us when we appear before our Lord. We are labeled righteous by God. We are being sanctified by Him. We cannot grasp this unless we are, as Peter says, sober-minded, thinking realistically about what God has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us.

Sanctification only often comes through the difficulties we face in life. Without difficulties, we do not grow and our witness for Him suffers. Sanctification is all about the process of working through situations, giving ourselves over to Him so that He will be able to bring us along in spiritual growth so that He will be glorified and that takes effort on our part. In the process, others will see how we handle situations, see our testimony and whether or not the reality of our Christian life is true or not.

[1] Foundations Course: Change That Sticks! pg 6-1

[2] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2025/11/11/job-aha-moment/

[3] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2025/11/03/sanctification-memorizing-scripture/

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective