The story of Abraham and Isaac ascending the mountain has always been interesting to me. There's a lot to unpack. You have a father who is incredibly old... so old that I'm sure he'd criticize our last two presidents for being too young and inexperienced! He has been promised that he would father a great nation, yet all he has to show for it is one son whom he had to turn away and another son that God had said must be sacrificed (Gen 22:2).
Let's stop for a second and talk about how seemingly insane this story sounds. God makes you a huge promise, you literally only have one son whom this promise can come through, and now God is asking you to act like some barbaric animal by killing your own flesh and blood. It doesn't make sense. What is even harder to comprehend is that Abraham didn't flinch. He didn't have a contingency and he didn't have a back-up plan... it's just him, his son, and God's promise. There is something here in the extreme faith we see Abraham exhibiting. In fact, Paul talks about Abraham's faith in Hebrews saying...
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Abraham had no safety net; he simply operated on faith. He knew God's promise, he knew God's faithfulness, and because of that his only conclusion was that if God asked him to commit this act, then God would find a supernatural way to bring his son back to him. When you consider that the mental state of Abraham was one of utter devotion and trust in God's faithfulness, his words to Isaac's confusion over not seeing a sacrifice start to make a lot more sense.
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together. (Genesis 22:7b-8)
In planting The Well, Doug and I have experienced many moments where we were like Isaac. "Where is our next home, God?" He replies "I will provide." "How can we go about doing something that none of us have ever done, God?" He replies "I will provide." "I feel alone and don't know who will support us or go with us, God." He replies "I will provide." God provides, and hallelujah for that! He provides even when provision seems far off. When the night can't get darker and the desert can't get more barren, God provides! When adversaries appear to have you surrounded and the waves are too large to overcome, how faithfully God provides! When the mundane, lukewarm expressions of our faith have made us numb to true revival and we don't know how to reconnect with the God we once knew, praise God above, he provides! The beauty of the Gospel is that it doesn't depend on your provision. It doesn't depend on our ability to plan and strategize or to secure our own future. God provides despite our self-provision because he knows that it will never truly be enough. Just when humanity seemed the most lost, God provided a lamb who reconciled us all so that we would never have to provide for ourselves again! Just remember, no matter what challenge you are facing or what unknown country your calling is bringing you towards, God will provide. He already brought the lamb; all he asks is for us to walk up the mountain, together, so that he can show us his perfect faithfulness.
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER A Prayer for Provision Lord of all things, you know the things our hearts desire and the things we need to achieve our calling. Provide for us the lamb of your salvation when we need saving. Deliver us from need when we can not provide for ourselves. Afford us comfort when there is no comfort to be found. In all things, if none of these blessings are your will, give us the grace and wisdom to take joy in our trials and poverty so that through our faithfulness to your provision, others might be led closer to you. We pray that you would continue to use us and our mission as the days move on so that others can be rescued from an eternity without you and be brought to your loving arms. In your son's holy name we pray, Amen.
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