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"Later on God tested Abraham's faith and obedience.”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. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you. Genesis 22:1-2 (NLT)

I cannot imagine that Abraham on his three day journey to this region of Moriah thought that his faith was being tested. We all know the story of this great father of faith and how he was called from his father’s house to walk with God. (See Genesis 12:1) At this point in his life he had been through so much. He had gone from hearing the call of God in his life to actually receiving the promise God gave to him—an heir of his own. He had separated from relationships that were unfruitful (see Genesis 13:8-11; 21:14); interceded for a city of people “face-to-face” with God (see Genesis 18); and had his identity changed by God to further ratify the covenant that God made with him (see Genesis 17:5). Abraham had definitely been there and done that (and got the t-shirt!) But think with me for a minute, now he is being called to a distance region (three days journey away) to sacrifice his only heir—his beloved son Isaac. At first glance this does not appear to be a test of God, but more so some cruel joke. Unfortunately, Abraham did not have the luxury of reading the end of his story as we do; all he had was his trust in God. And that is the focus for today because that trust allowed for his obedience which triggered the blessings of God.

Let’s just explore for another minute, what you and I might have been thinking or feeling for three whole days as we travelled to the place to sacrifice the thing that we love. I know I would have been questioning God. I would have questioned my purpose in life and his plan for me. Needless to say, our obedience requires sacrifice. God requires from us total and complete obedience. But in order to do this we must trust him. How can we do this? Our knowledge of God helps us to trust him. Although we may not understand God’s methods to carry out his plan for our lives, we definitely can know that his intent is good. (See Romans 8:28-29) If you are a parent of a small child you understand the difficulty that sometimes exists trying to explain to them complex situations. At each turn they have another question to quench their thirst to understand the all important “why”. I believe God has the same problem with us as believers. Around each corner we ask him, “but God why?” In most versions of the Bible, God specifically calls Isaac Abraham’s only son. We should never mistake the fact that God does understand the costs we incur to obey him. He’s is a loving, caring father that understands that our sacrifice may cause us pain as we trust him. (See Hebrews 4:15) But in this story, we see that Abraham’s trust in God is so strong that he believes that God would raise Isaac from the dead if he were sacrificed on the altar. (See Hebrews 11:17-19) This tells me that Abraham laid down (or sacrificed) any fear he had that God would not provide. Maybe this is why he named the place he took Isaac to Jehovah-Jireh (God will provide). This is such a beautiful picture of trust to know that the Lord God will provide in the place of sacrifice. The character of God is to meet us at our point of greatest need and essentially “catch us before we fall”. So for what are you trusting God today? Just believe that if he has called you to obey and give up something that he is able to bless you with something much greater. This also teaches us that we are required to be in a place of obedience to position ourselves for God’s provision. God’s grace is provided to us at the point of our obedience to him. The ram that Abraham found was at the place of sacrifice. It was at this place that his theology met head on with reality! There God provided the lamb for him. Grace is provided as needed—not in advance. It will always be there when you need it. Where is God requiring you to be at this time in your life? Is it in ministry? Is he calling you out of a relationship? He may be just requiring a higher level of faith in him as he does for us all. Will you follow him obediently to that place? If you choose to, there is a promise of blessings in this place of obedience.

Grace and Peace be with your spirit as you follow.

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

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