“Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.” Genesis 22:1-3
I have often wondered if there was a verse missing between 2 and 3. You know, the verse where Abraham melts down, pitches a fit, gets angry, emotionally eats, questions God, or even just says “no”. Did Abraham really just get up early the next morning and head out to sacrifice his only son, whom God had promised, without the least bit of hesitation or frustration?
It’s safe to say that I have never stepped out in faith like that. I almost always question God’s direction. I want so badly to be where He wants me to be and go where He wants me to go, but it’s hard when I don’t fully understand what He is asking me to do. If I were Abraham, I would have wanted to know up front that God was going to provide a ram instead to sacrifice before heading up that mountain. I always want to understand the whole process before stepping out in faith.
The hardest times of my Christian journey have been the moments when God has made a promise and confirmed it in His word and through other believers, and then has asked me to walk with Him through circumstances that do not align with that promise at all. I remember when my mom was diagnosed with cancer and believing that God had promised healing for her and claiming that promise, yet she still had to go through treatment and experienced a few set backs along the journey. Six years later she is cancer free and God did fulfill His promise, but there were moments along the way when I didn’t understand what He was doing. I have also seen this play out in my personal life as I believe God for a husband and family, yet He is still asking me to trust Him in my singleness. I know the promises He has made to me, but what do we do when we don’t understand His ways?
I love that God knew and anticipated this problem.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8
We all have a choice to make. We can question God and thus delay our journey, or we can choose to walk in faith believing that God is good and His ways are far beyond what we can imagine. God had so much in store for Abraham. In the moment it might have appeared that God was taking away His promise, but what He was really doing was building a relationship of trust with Abraham that would be needed for the journey ahead.
Abraham loved God and trusted that no matter what God was asking him to do, it would be in alignment with His promise. I know this was the ultimate test of Abraham’s faith, but sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t God’s way of proving His faithfulness to Abraham. God will never ask us to do something that doesn’t align with His will for us and isn’t going to be for our good. We can complain, and yell, and get mad, and eat, and mope, but that doesn’t diminish God’s faithfulness.
Whatever He is asking you to walk through with Him, just say yes. His promises are true. Even when your current circumstances are yelling something different, just remember that His ways are far beyond what you can understand. He is building up your ability to trust Him more and more. Praying that we will be women who get up early in the morning and go wherever God calls.
