Read Hebrews 11:17-19
Read Genesis 22:1-19
Questions …
- What
did the Lord ask Abraham to do? - Did
he obey? - Based
on the promise God had made Abraham regarding his offspring, why was it strange
for God to ask Abraham to do this? - What
did the Lord do as a result of Abraham’s obedience? - What
name of God do we see in Genesis 22:14?
Imagine that you are Abraham and God has
told you to take the thing that is most precious to you, the thing you waited so
long for and kill it. What would that be like? Would you be able,
like Abraham, to take a step of faith and obey? Or would you cower in
fear and disobey?
We are faced with scenarios like this
often. Think about it. No, God doesn’t ask us to physically kill
someone, but He does ask us to place our most precious things on the “altar”
and offer them as a living sacrifices holy and pleasing to Him as our act of
worship (Romans 12:1). Perhaps He’s
asked you to walk away from a job that you love or leave a ministry that is
near to your heart. He may be asking you to die to your own desires and
replace them with His. He may even ask you to give Him your fertility,
bank account or health. Worse yet, He may ask you to trust Him with the
health of your child. We never really know how the Lord may choose to
test our faith. But rest assured, He will test it at some point.
And He usually tests that which is the most valued and precious to us because
He desires to be King of our heart.
Yes, that is usually the purpose in His
testing. God wants to be our number one. He wants there to be “no
other gods before Him.” God does not waste a thing either. He desires to
take us higher with Him and show Himself as the all-powerful, provider He
is. In revealing our “Isaac,” He is able to refine us and keep us walking
humbly before Him.
When my daughter, Leanna, was four
months old I had an "Isaac" experience. Leanna became very sick
and had to be hospitalized because of a severe upper respiratory
infection. I was scared to death! I can remember taking her
upstairs to the hospital room. It was just the two of us. It was
only my precious little baby girl that I had waited so long for and her very
scared mommy. As I stared at her tiny body and watched her labored
breathing, I had no choice. I had to lay her on the altar and offer her
up to the Lord. I had to give her back. I had to tell the
Lord that no matter what He chose to do, I would still love Him and love Him
well! As much as I loved Leanna, I loved Him more. By the way, I
was wrong. It wasn't just the two of us in that room. There were
three of us – God was there. His presence flooded that hospital room, and
I felt nothing but peace!
We went home the next day and after some
time she recovered, but that was the most significant “Isaac” experience I had
ever had at that point. Oh, I’ve had many over the years … job related,
other child related “Isaac” experiences, money, health. Each time I’ve
had to choose whether or not I would worship the creation or the Creator.
Something else I’ve noticed when I’ve
had these experiences is that God really does care about how we respond to His
testing. He’s looking for our obedience level, our attitude, how quickly
we respond and our confidence level in Him.
So the next time you are walking in an
“Isaac” experience, ask yourself these questions:
- Am
I choosing to obey what God has asked me to do? - How
am I obeying? Quickly? Half-heartedly? - Do
I have a good or bad attitude toward God and the circumstance? Am I
“blaming” God for it? - Am I speaking words of life and truth about the
circumstance or words of death destruction? - Am
I asking God to work out His best in the situation, and am I confidently
expecting God to be “Jehovah-jirah,” God the Provider?
“Isaac” experiences are not easy, but they do provide us with growth opportunities that teach us how to better walk worthy and reflect our Savior.
Blessings,
Jacqueline
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