Ever feel in over your head? Tested beyond your perceived strength? Positioned in a place where you question God what are you doing? Why am I here? What are you calling me to?
If so, be encouraged and remember...Our deliverance, our victory, and our ability to obey is provided through trusting in WHO GOD IS and WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF.
In Genesis 22:1-12, God tells Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." And so, "the next morning Abraham got up and saddled 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." Then, "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, 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 LORD called 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." (NIV)
Whew. Can you imagine? I know I've been called to sacrifice many things, things I loved, but my own flesh and blood...WOW!
So, where did Abraham muster his courage to offer up Isaac? How could he live so abandoned to God's command?
There are many possible solutions to these questions but I believe none as pertinent as the answer found in Hebrew 11:17-19. It says, "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him," It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." (NIV)
Abraham's obedience resided in His complete confidence of in WHO GOD IS AND IN GOD'S ABILITY, not his own. He didn't focus on what he could or couldn't do...instead...he shifted his attention to remember GOD! He trusted in God's goodness and in God's power.
So....
When fear grips your heart and challenges your faith...Remember WHO GOD I!
When you don't feel like you can do what He has called you to...Remember WHAT HE HAS PROMISED.
When you feel alone...Remember GOD IS FOR YOU.
When your faith is assaulted and you face huge battles...Remember God's character and His power!
Friend, God can be trusted. He is faithful. And, He loves you.
I pray God strengthens you and fills you with His presence so that you have the strength to declare (as the Apostle Paul did in 2 Timothy 1:12) "I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (NIV)
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