I am quietly mocked and sidelined at work for being a Christian. How much of this am I supposed to just take?

“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.”

Three young exiles are given a final chance to bow to a statue or burn. Their answer contains the crucial words, but if not: they believe God is able to rescue them, and they will refuse regardless of whether he does. Their faithfulness was not a wager on a good outcome. That distinction is what makes the passage useful when nothing is at stake except your reputation.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

Peter writes to scattered believers facing social hostility rather than execution, and tells them not to think the fiery trial strange. That word is doing the work. Much of the sting comes from a sense that this should not be happening to a decent person doing the right thing. Peter removes the surprise without ever pretending the experience is pleasant.