GOD WILL PROVIDE: Devotional # 3

                                        Genesis 2:1-10   

Isaac is the one through whom the whole world would be blessed. This must have run through Abraham’s mind when God Called him and said:  Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – to the Land of Moriah.  Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.  (Genesis 22:1-2)  Life was good.    Isaac had grown into a young man.  For over 50 years Abraham had hoped for a son.  He had learned a lesson with the birth of Ishmael.  God wanted Abraham to learn an additional lesson.

God tested Abraham’s faith not to trip him up (James 1:12-13 says:  God blesses those who patiently endure testing … God never tempts anyone)., but to deepen his capacity of obeying God and developing his character.  It was a lesson for Isaac as well.  God took Father and Son through an experience which severely tested their trust in God and each other.  Something profound is revealed in this moving story.

Abraham takes a huge risk, acting in obedience, as he traveled 50 miles to Mount Moriah on the eastern side of today’s Old Jerusalem.  Taking that ultimate risk leads to an ultimate discovery.  There is a universal feeling that humans must do something to please God.  Many religions practiced human sacrifice to appease their gods.  That was the case in Abraham’s day.  (Read Micah 6:7)

During the three day ride to Mount Moriah, Abraham must have wrestled with what God was asking of him.  “God had promised to bless the whole world through his son.”  God had said “it would be through Isaac’s descendants.”  God kept his promises.  Therefore, God likely would raise Isaac from the dead.  (Read Romans 4:18 and Hebrews 11:19)

As Abraham (carrying the fire) and Isaac (carrying the wood) walked to the top of the mountain,  Isaac asks: Where is the lamb for the…offering?  Abraham’s heart must have broken.  Trying to explain to his son that he was the sacrifice, Abraham answers, God will provide.  He didn’t have the slightest clue how God would provide, only believed God is a different God.          (Continues Tomorrow) 

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QUESTION:

Have you ever been asked by God to “give up someone you deeply love”?  What was your response?   My Grandfather was a Baptist Pastor who strongly supported overseas mission.      When his daughter said that she and her husband were called by God to serve as missionaries in Guatemala, C.A., he said:  “There is plenty of need in this country, why do you have to go to another country?”  For him, it was “almost as painful as death.”  How has your character been strengthened though God’s testing? 

PRAYER:                                                                                                                                                                           
Thank God for the provision of forgiveness through the death of Jesus on the cross.  Pray for a heart of gratitude and courage in telling others of God’s Amazing Love.  Pray for courage to trust God when asked to give up something or someone, you love, for God’s Service.   
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