The story of Abraham and Isaac is not a new one for me, and is usually one that even the most spiritually indifferent person has heard or at least referenced before. While on the field in Guatemala I got the opportunity to be a part of the team that was in charge of putting together the lesson books that the kids used every week during their class time at PFKids club. While working on these books, the Lord used the very stories that the kids were going over that week, or I was writing about to minister to me and the place I was at on a very real and personal level. None stuck out more to me than the Story of Isaac, Abraham and Mount Moriah. The Lord had promised Abraham and Sarah a son, a son through which he would bless the entire world and through whom a nation would be born.
In their haste and distrust, there came the whole Hagar and Ishmael debacle ( which is a prime example of what happens when we try to take the promises of God into our own hands) but even through that, the Lord proves Himself faithful and sovereign over all.
The long awaited birth of Isaac finally arrives and we see the beauty of a promise of the Lord fulfilled. Yet not many years later I see God ask something that most people would label "unthinkable". He asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac unto Him as a burnt offering. Words probably could not describe the confusion that probably went through Abraham's mind, "Lord, but what about all the promises? Why would you give me something, something I waited so patiently for only to rip it away?"Those are the thoughts that would have gone through my mind anyways. However I don't see Abraham ask why, or even hesitate, he rises up early in the morning ( there will be no procrastination on Abraham's part) and he takes his long awaited for son and offers him up as a sacrifice to the Lord.
Now for those of you who haven't actually read or heard this before, spoiler alert God stops Abraham with knife mid air.
At first glance, the stopping of Abraham's knife filled hand makes sense, God is a merciful and loving God whose compassion knows no bounds, of course He would stop Abraham, after all wasn't it only a test?
The thing is that God is also Truth, and He is a keeper of His Word, and I believe that when He asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice He meant it. He wasn't just pulling Abraham's leg. For me the Lord showed me that the reason He was able to tell Abraham to "STOP!" was because Abraham had fulfilled the command of the Lord, He had sacrificed Isaac.
The thing about sacrifice, is that sacrifice is something that happens within the heart. I fully believe that the Lord would have been able to resurrect Isaac after Abraham had physically offered him up, but He didn't have to because the deed was done, Isaac had been sacrificed, but he had been sacrificed in the one place where it matters the most, his heart.
For me I am at a point in my life where the Lord is having me just sit still before Him and wait. He has asked me to lay down and surrender all of my desires, wants, plans and fully rely on Him to resurrect the ones that are according to His will for me ( and can I just interject with this though, ITS NOT EASY!). It's also not enough to simply not physically do something ( have a conversation, or not have a conversation, not allowing myself to make plans, or try to kick open doors myself) I must also sacrifice those desires in my heart. That means not focusing my prayer or my time in the Word on one specific topic, or looking for an answer, but simply releasing all claims and all feelings of entitlement that I feel I have because of the promises the Lord has given me.
And that's where faith comes in, He's either the God of the Bible, the Creator of the Universe and the Author of Salvation or He's not. To me, He is most definitely the first, and right now all I can do is rest in Him and the assurance I have that He will fulfill those promises He has given me. Whether or not they end up playing out the way I think they should, or the way I'd like them to is of no importance.
He is my God, and who am I to withhold a gift from Him, especially one that He has given me in the first place. I cannot love anything more than Him, and that includes His promises. He cannot give me anything until I am ready to release it right back to Him and consecrate it unto Him and His Kingdom.
The Test is one that occurs within your heart.
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