A SPECIAL INGREDIENT
Day # 8
Genesis 23:2 Take
your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and
offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall show you.
God had given
Abraham the promise that his son Isaac would continue the covenant
relationship. It was a perfect recipe for success. A son born to Abraham in his
old age would give him hope that his family would carry on under the blessing
of the Lord God who had called him out of Haran to be his special people. What
could go wrong with a recipe like that?
Your life is
perfect or at least it is going according to your plan, your recipe. The recipe
of life is complete – a family, a job, good health. Things are looking good. It
is all systems go for launch and the lift off and flight looks great. What
could go wrong? All the ingredients for a good life are brought together.
“Take your son,
your only son, Isaac, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.” Really? Abraham
must be thinking that he heard God wrong. A burnt offering to God? Really? How
is that possible? It isn’t a part of Abraham’s recipe for life. Yet, here it
is. God’s command, not a request but a command. Do this. What is amazing is
Abraham’s willingness to obey God. No argument. No complaint. Just compliance.
And faith. Faith
that God would still make the recipe work. God would make things come out
correctly. “God will provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering,”
he tells Isaac. (Gen. 23:8) Faith in God. Faith that God had the recipe in
hand.
So it is for us.
We are to have faith in God in all circumstances, even when the recipe changes
due to illness or loss of job or some other major change to the recipe of our
lives. Faith that God knows what He is doing and will work it out.
Prayer: God,
You asked of Abraham what You would one day do Yourself. You were willing to
sacrifice Your Son for all of us. Help each of us to have the faith in You and
Your Word in all circumstances, even those which I do not understand. Amen.
the time that was most difficult for me was when my 20 year old son died. I searched the Bible for answers and found the answers I needed.
ReplyDeleteThere's been to many changes in my life that I've had to deal with! Each change was met with much resistance. My philosophy has always been: If it Ain't Broke Don't fix it.
ReplyDeleteApparently I was broken and over the past 3 years many changes for the better have happened! There's always going to be struggles and pitfalls and feelings of being a failure! However, compared to what life was five years ago, things are okay 👌