There is nothing I like better than to teach, speak, or write about the joyous parts of being a Jesus follower. My favorite topics are the enormity of God’s grace and His lavish love toward His children. The race set before us is not always a picnic though and around many turns lie difficult stretches, dangerous terrain, and unexpected detours. If we, the runners of the race, have not done the hard work of stretching and growing our spiritual muscles, we will not complete our journey. God requires that we have a balance of learning about His affections toward us and His holiness burning in us. As I learn hard lessons, I’ve also got to teach hard lessons. Here is one of them.
In the middle chapters of the book of Genesis we read about Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham in which He promised to make Abraham’s offspring more numerous than the stars in the sky and that they would inherit promised land. Abraham had a race to run in his lifetime and God was going to do whatever He had to do to ensure that Abraham used every spiritual muscle he had, no matter how painful the stretching might be.
Abraham’s wife Sarah finally gave birth to a son, Isaac, and Abraham’s trust muscles began to grow. A test would come though, as they always do. In the 22nd chapter of Genesis God told Abraham to “take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (22:2NIV). Whoa. What harder words could come from the mouth of God? I know the ending of the story and my heart still does a skip when I read those words.
Abraham readily agrees on the trip up the mountain with Isaac and follows God’s instructions by preparing a fire and binding Isaac to the alter. Abraham raises the knife and is ready to plunge it into Isaac’s heart when an angel of the Lord called out to him to stop and provided a ram caught in the bushes as a sacrifice. Abraham named that place, The Lord Will Provide (Jehovah Jireh).
In my mind’s eye I can imagine that whole scene playing out, can’t you? I often wonder what was going through Abraham’s mind and heart at the time. Did he trust because He knew God would do something else or did his trust muscles carry him strong and true through a devastating roadblock? In the end it doesn’t really matter what scenarios and conflicted thoughts played through him as he journeyed with his beloved son up the mountain because as soon as it was time to act, he did. I marvel at that kind of faith and trust. I marvel at that kind of covenantal love between a man and his Eternal Father. I want that. I live and breathe for that relationship with God, don’t you? Will you let Him work those muscles in you until you think you can’t go another step…..and then you take another step?
As Jesus-followers, we each are running a race and there will be Mount Moriahs around certain bends in the path. As the path steepens we each have to answer this question: What is my Isaac? What is it that I love so dearly and do not want to trust God with it? What am I holding on to so tightly that I can’t hold on to God? As we climb the steps up the mountain there might be self-talk, fear, doubt, and the working out of our faith but God isn’t bothered by our questions. He welcomes them because it gives Him an opportunity to show us who He really is. He is and always has been Jehovah Jireh – the Lord Who Provides.
The stuff I love to talk about, His grace and His love, are actually even more spectacular when we are willing to lay down coveted areas, people, things, ideas, hard-heartedness, and fears on the alter of sacrifice. Why? Because it is only when we are willing to trust the Father with much that much is given. He is not the God who takes away, He is The Lord Who Provides. Abraham knew His Father’s heart and because he knew Him he could trust Him.
I’ve seen many believers who have avoided the mountains of the race because they couldn’t seem to trust God with that which they loved more than Him. The results are always the same….they didn’t have the spiritual strength to face the rough patches because those muscles only develop when the risk is taken to march the steep slopes of trust.
You may think God is simply asking too much of you. I think not. God led His own Son up a different hill and bound Him to an alter of sacrifice. Three days later Jehovah Jireh brought His Beloved Son out of the tomb. That story turned out pretty well. What might He want to do in your life if you would trust Him?
What’s your Isaac?