In the Bible, it is said that God promised Abraham a son, and he faithfully waited indefinitely for this blessing to come his way. Finally, after 25 years of waiting, the Lord gave him this son, and he named him Isaac (Genesis 21:1-8). When I think about this by itself, I couldn't ignore the absolute resilience that Abraham had; I'm pretty sure that he had a whole lot of things come his way to tempt him to veer from the path, and it would have taken tremendous faith to keep on holding on to the promise, regardless of how hopeless the scenario was.
As awe-inspiring as that may seem, what follows is no less than challenging to our own faith: God told Abraham to take Isaac and to sacrifice him on the altar (Genesis 22:1-2). I watched this message over at one video done by Worship.net (more on those fine folks some other time), and I could remember the narrator elaborating on how Abraham would have acted and felt during that time. He said that Abraham was probably so silent at the time because he was waiting for the Lord to tell him that everything was going to be okay, and that he didn't have to do as He commanded. Charles Stanley talked about the time between God's command and the actual moment when they both set off to offer the Lord a sacrifice, and he expressed that Abraham was probably just crying out to God, just asking Him, 'Lord, are you sure?'.
As dumbfounded and confused as he was, Abraham still decided to stay faithful and obey the Lord, up until the time he made the decision to plunge the dagger into his son's vitals. We are told that as he was about to kill Isaac, the Lord stopped him:
Genesis 22:10-12 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 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."
Abraham was tested to wait for the Lord, and when the blessing came, he was tested to lose it for the Lord. He made the absolutely painful decision to let go of his own strong feelings for the son he waited for what seemed to be an eternity for. The Lord saw this, and not only did He allow Abraham to keep his son, He blessed him further:
Genesis 22:16-18 "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
In the situation I'm in, in the situation my family is in, this message was just so timely. The blessings we get from God are not primarily for our pleasure, but for us to be drawn even closer to the Lord. If we expect the Lord to bless us, we need ask Him to prepare us to handle what He has in store for us so that He would be glorified more and more.
I probably said this before, but if we misuse or mismanage the blessing God gives us, He takes it away and gives us to someone who is prepared and positioned to use it - and there's no other way to use a blessing but to use it for His glory.
As we ask the Lord to bless us, let us continue to commit ourselves to Him, that we may use what He gives us for Him. There's no greater purpose for a blessing, than for the Lord's Will to be done.
God bless you.
As awe-inspiring as that may seem, what follows is no less than challenging to our own faith: God told Abraham to take Isaac and to sacrifice him on the altar (Genesis 22:1-2). I watched this message over at one video done by Worship.net (more on those fine folks some other time), and I could remember the narrator elaborating on how Abraham would have acted and felt during that time. He said that Abraham was probably so silent at the time because he was waiting for the Lord to tell him that everything was going to be okay, and that he didn't have to do as He commanded. Charles Stanley talked about the time between God's command and the actual moment when they both set off to offer the Lord a sacrifice, and he expressed that Abraham was probably just crying out to God, just asking Him, 'Lord, are you sure?'.
As dumbfounded and confused as he was, Abraham still decided to stay faithful and obey the Lord, up until the time he made the decision to plunge the dagger into his son's vitals. We are told that as he was about to kill Isaac, the Lord stopped him:
Genesis 22:10-12 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 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."
Abraham was tested to wait for the Lord, and when the blessing came, he was tested to lose it for the Lord. He made the absolutely painful decision to let go of his own strong feelings for the son he waited for what seemed to be an eternity for. The Lord saw this, and not only did He allow Abraham to keep his son, He blessed him further:
Genesis 22:16-18 "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
In the situation I'm in, in the situation my family is in, this message was just so timely. The blessings we get from God are not primarily for our pleasure, but for us to be drawn even closer to the Lord. If we expect the Lord to bless us, we need ask Him to prepare us to handle what He has in store for us so that He would be glorified more and more.
I probably said this before, but if we misuse or mismanage the blessing God gives us, He takes it away and gives us to someone who is prepared and positioned to use it - and there's no other way to use a blessing but to use it for His glory.
As we ask the Lord to bless us, let us continue to commit ourselves to Him, that we may use what He gives us for Him. There's no greater purpose for a blessing, than for the Lord's Will to be done.
God bless you.