When
he
was 75 years old, Abraham took a huge leap of faith. He left his home and all that
he was familiar
with to follow a promise. God
had said
that he had a new home waiting and that, once he was there,
Abraham’s family
would become a great nation and bless the entire world (Genesis
12:1-3).
Almost
25 years later, Abraham was still waiting for the promise to be
fulfilled. Then, one day,
some visitors came and
announced that a baby was finally on its way.
When Abraham’s wife, Sarah, heard this, she laughed and
said, “After I
am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
(Genesis
18:12). A year later,
Isaac was born.
If
the
story ended there, it would wonderful! A
faithful couple listens, obeys, waits and is blessed. That is a good sermon! However, as you likely know,
that is not the
end.
Approximately
15 years later, to test Abraham, God said, “Take your son, your
only son,
Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering”
(Genesis 22:2). Unbelievably,
Abraham
gathers the wood and sets off on a three-day journey to do what
the Lord asked
of him.
How
can
this be? How could he
have waited so
long for this son and then consider killing him? How would the original
promise be fulfilled
if his son was dead? This
does not make
any sense! Why would he go
through with
this when it seemed so crazy?
Abraham
believed one essential thing: “God… will provide!” (Genesis 22:8).
That
was it! He did not know
how the story
would end, but he believed it would end well, because God would
provide. This is the same
belief that caused him to
leave his homeland and the same belief that allowed him to wait
until he was
100 years old before the promise of a son came true. He believed that if God
promised it, then he
would somehow provide the answer.
I
wish
I always had that confidence. Ask
me if
I think God can do anything and I will say “yes”. Ask me if I believe that he
will do it and I
am a little more hesitant. “Can
he?” and
“Will he?” are two completely different questions that require
completely
different levels of faith.
In
the
end, of course, God did provide (Genesis 22:9-14). Isaac was spared and Abraham
saw the promises
come true.
The path God
chooses for us may
not be the one that we would choose for ourselves, but never doubt
that God is
good and that he wants the best for you.
Every time and always!
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