After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Genesis 22:1-3 ESV
God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (the son he had prayed for for years when his wife was barren). What an incredibly difficult request! Has God ever asked YOU to do something that left you wondering if you heard Him correctly? I know for me, He asked me to work on my marriage when I was ready to throw in the towel. It frustrated me that God asked me to do this, because it wasn’t what I wanted to do (it’s okay, God can handle our frustration). What was Abraham's response to God’s direction? It was Immediate obedience. He got up early the next morning, set on obeying the voice of the Lord.
When God told me to work on my marriage, He gave me the next step that I needed to take. Just like God told Abraham to go to the mountain, He told me to take my eyes off of my struggles, and to focus on Him. When God tells us to do something, He will give us the first step to take. That’s all we need to begin. I think that if Abraham would have spent too much time thinking about it, his decision would have changed. I know that when I hesitate, my flesh tends to muddy up the clarity that God has given me. Remember that the enemy doesn’t want us to experience the joy of being obedient to God. He wants us to stay stuck! Abraham trusted God so completely that he was willing to do the unimaginable. His faith in God saved his son's life. When I trusted God with my marriage, he changed my heart and he gave me a supernatural love for my husband. God did the unimaginable for me ~ He saved the life of my marriage! Abraham named that place "the Lord will provide". He experienced God's goodness because he was obedient to do the most difficult thing he had ever done. What are you waiting for? Trust in His plan for your life and take that first step in obedience to Him. He will be right there with you, cheering you on and giving you the next step that you need to take.
God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He still asks His children to do difficult things, that sometimes make no sense to us. When we listen to His voice and walk in obedience to His direction, the end result will always be knowing Him as the God who provides. When we fail to trust in Him, we lose out on knowing this characteristic of His nature....until the next opportunity comes along 😊 The good news is that God promises to be right there with us and to direct us every step of the way. It can be scary when we can’t see what is on the other side of our obedience ~ but God can. We know that He is good and that He is for us. Blessing always follows obedience. Take it from someone who has learned first hand that it is better to obey than to sacrifice the joy of following His direction.
Prayer:
Father God, I lift up Your name! You know all, and You see all. To You be all glory and honor and praise. I admit that when I read the account of Abraham in Your Word, my mother's heart is squeezed. My flesh doesn't understand why you would test him in this way. I know that our thoughts are not Your thoughts, so thank you for the gentle reminder that it is not our responsibility to understand Your ways, but "simply" to follow Your direction. Father, I ask that You would give us perfect clarity into what You are calling us to do. Remind us deep down that You are always good and that You are always for us. Help us to trust in You so completely, that when You ask difficult things of us, our immediate response would be yes, Lord, not my will but Yours be done. Thank You that you walk beside us, and that You promise us that our testing will give us endurance, which will allow us to finish strong. We want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant”. Wisdom, walk beside us and illuminate our path so that we can walk in the joy of our obedience. In Jesus Holy name, the one who sacrificed Himself for us, amen.