God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. God told Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky! The only problem was, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, wasn’t able to have children. Although they were very very old, Abraham never gave up hope that one day he would have children. Just when Abraham thought he was getting too old, God provided. When Abraham was one hundred years old, Abraham and Sarah had a son! They were so excited! They named him Isaac.
When Isaac was a boy, God spoke to Abraham and told him something kind of shocking:
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” –Genesis 22:2
WHAT!? God told Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac and sacrifice him! How horrifying! Abraham was rightfully upset, but Abraham trusted God with every part of his being and he knew God had a plan. He didn’t know what it was, but he trusted God to provide. Abraham did what God asked:
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. –Genesis 22:9-10
With blind faith, Abraham had every intention of following through with God’s command but then:
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide” –Genesis 22:11-14
Abraham was willing to sacrifice the thing he loved more than anything else in the world, his son. God saw Abraham’s obedience and gave Abraham a male sheep (a ram) instead.
Sometimes being obedient to God’s will is hard! Sometimes that means sacrificing a lot. It’s hard for us to have blind faith because we don’t always understand God’s will. Sometimes what God calls us to do sounds crazy. Sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, and he was. God always gives us what he promises. Those promises come true in God’s time, not ours. It’s hard to be patient, but God ALWAYS provides. If we are faithful and we just trust him, no matter what we are going through, God promises to be faithful. Look at Abraham, he was 100 years old when God came through on his promise! Trust in God’s timing and trust in the sacrifices that you’re making.
Today think about your personal obedience to God’s will. What is God calling you to do? What has he put in your heart? If God is calling you to do something, are you willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen? It’s hard to trust the will of God because it’s unknown to us. Just always remember, if you are in the will of God, he will always provide.
“Dear heavenly father, thank you for the desires you have put in my heart. Help me to have blind faith and trust you with all that I am. Please provide for me in the way that only you can. Help me to make the necessary sacrifices to do your will and to please you. Forgive me for not trusting you like I should sometimes. Help my faith in you to grow. Develop the desires in my heart and give me vision to make those things happen. Thank you for remembering your faithful. I know you’re always going to take care of me, no matter what the circumstances. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!”
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