Genesis 22:1-19 NIV
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lordcalled out to him from heaven, ”Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
To the heart that does not know God, this sounds like a cruel story. To the heart that does not know God, much of life can seem like a cruel story. Reading the story out of the entire context of the life of Abraham, and not understanding the God that Abraham served, it simply sounds like God was asking something cruel of a parent that loved his son. How can a God of love ask this of anyone? That is the normal human response. The story also seems, on the surface, to contradict many of the Old Testament prohibitions against, and condemnations of the pagan practices of child sacrifice. Abraham is identified in scripture as the “Father of all who believe”. (Romans 4:11). Abraham is the early pattern of the man of faith. The significance of the story is the test. God told Abraham numerous times to do things, that to the natural mind, did not make sense.
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8 NIV)
In order to understand the significance of this story, we have to understand Abraham, and the relationship he had with God. He trusted God completely, and he knew that God is good. His life experiences had proven that to be true time and time again. Abraham understood God as the Creator of Life. Abraham understood that God already owned everything, because He created it. We can never really give anything to God, because it is already His. All we can do is demonstrate our willingness to release our hold on it. The nature of sin is to stake a claim on something that is not ours to begin with, and then hold onto it. This is what the Bible refers to as covetousness.
Look at Abraham’s words to his servants: “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Not “I will come back to you”, but “We will come back to you.” Even if Abraham had followed through and slain his son as God told him to, he knew that, because God created the boy’s life, God alone was fully capable of restoring it. All throughout the course of history man has sought the path to immortality on his own terms, without turning to the Creator of Life. The modern version of this fantasy is something called “whole brain emulation (WBE), the hypothetical futuristic process of scanning the mental state of a particular brain substrate and copying it to a computer. People refer to it as “uploading your consciousness to the cloud.” The idea is that this computerized consciousness can be implanted into a robot, or another biological body, thus allowing for the essence of a person’s being to be extended into eternity. This theme has been the basis for several science fiction movies. It is a ridiculous idea, and only serves to prove how far the lost human mind will go in its rebellion against God, the Creator of Life, in attempting to control life on its own terms.
Abraham’s faith is the kind of faith that I want. However, in my own life, I find in myself a tendency to not act that way. I think, to some degree, that is true of all of us. We mouth the words of faith, but when it comes to putting the unexplainable into practice, we tend to want to do it our own way, because to the human mind that is not trained in the ways of God, sometimes God just doesn’t seem to make sense! Understanding that God is the Creator of Life lays the groundwork for a right understanding of reality. Without that understanding, life often does not make sense. We work so hard to obtain things that we cannot, ultimately hold onto. Death takes all of life’s treasures away, or so it seems. Abraham’s faith allowed him to obey God, even when he did not understand the whys.
As a parent, one of the hardest lessons I have ever had to learn is that I must turn loose of my children when it is time. For all a child’s life, the parents are the providers, the protectors, the care givers, the nurturers, and educators. At least that is the way is supposed to be. I realize that there are some parents who do not do a very good job at this, but this is the ideal. But there comes a time when we must let go:
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)
This is a difficult transition for the parents, as well as the children. As the child matures, the parent(s) must learn to gradually release control and allow the child to make their own decisions. This can be a painful process, because sometimes the maturing child makes bad decisions. This transition is made difficult when the child(ren) exhibits behavior that seems to be reckless and destructive. It is hard for a parent to not be prone to want to go into “rescue” mode, because when children are small and incapable to taking care of themselves, that is what we do.
The transition is difficult for the child (or better “young adult”) because he wants his freedom and independence, but he also wants the safety-net his parents have provided. We must understand that this is a process. Some parents and children transition through this difficult time more quickly than others. There is no set, one size fits all, model for how this is accomplished, but all parents, and children must have this as the goal that they are working towards in a constructive manner. If not, it is all too easy to fall into a pattern of parents enabling children in destructive behavior patterns.
Understanding that God is the Creator of Life, we ultimately realize that we do not create our children, God does, He merely uses our physical bodies to accomplish that purpose. I believe that is one of the reasons why God made sex to be pleasurable. The process of making babies is fun! (Not to say that what comes after the baby is born is always “fun”! There is a lot of just plain old hard work for a long time!) Knowing that our children do not belong to us, but to God, allows us to have the faith to release them to Him when it is time. We just have to let go.
Although I have primarily used the example of parenting to demonstrate the faith needed to let go, this truth must be applied to all areas of our life. We must do our best, and in faith, leave the outcome up to God. This can often be difficult, because we live in a results oriented society. Who doesn’t want to see the results of their efforts? It brings great personal satisfaction to see a positive outcome from something that we have poured a lot of time, effort, and expense into. But often, we are not given that privilege. That is why we must go to Hebrews, chapter 11.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for….. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
This chapter lists example after example of the people of faith who lived their entire lives holding onto God’s promise of things that they did not actually live to see accomplished. God did fulfill every one of His promises, but many of these people did not get the personal satisfaction of witnessing the fulfilling of these promises during the span of their earthly lives.
In more recent times, think of the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He literally gave his life to spearhead the Civil Rights Movement. He did not live to see the results of this movement, but the impact of his life and the Civil Rights Movement on society is profound. Many other examples could be given of men and women who have poured their lives blood into causes that they did not live to see the results of. Think of the parents who have prayed for years for their wayward children, only for the children to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord after their parent’s death.
Are you in a difficult situation, or a difficult time in your life right now? As much as it may seem so at the time, I assure you that your situation is not unique. Study the life of Abraham. Learn from his faith. Own that faith for yourself. Learn to do all you can, and do your best, then leave it in God’s hands. I cannot guarantee you that this will solve all your problems. It may solve some of them in a timeframe that brings you satisfaction, but it may not. But being assured that God IS in control will give you a peace that is a powerful force in navigating your way through life’s challenges and heartaches. Do your part, faithfully, then let go. God has your back.
Danny's Stump 