“Sometimes life is not what we expect. Sometimes we want a good outcome in a given situation, but a bad one comes instead. Other times, we think something bad is about to happen, but good comes instead.”
I want you to meet Abraham. He is an older man (well over 100 years old) and has a wife, Sarah, and a son, Isaac. He has been promised by God that he would be the father of a nation and he has faith like no other that God is true to His word. One day, Abraham was by himself and while he was thinking about his future and the promises that would be fulfilled, God spoke to him. (Genesis 22:1) … He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah… [Abraham was curious what God was going to say next, but was just so in awe that the creator of the heavens and the earth was speaking to him.] God continued,
“Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Silence took place.
Okay, what would you do in that situation? If that was me, I don’t know what I would have done. I probably would have kicked and screamed, and told God that He was insane and didn’t know what he was talking about. It’s funny, Abraham didn’t do that. After God told him the directions of what to do with his son, Abraham went to bed, woke up early the next morning, got a donkey ready, brought two of his servants (yeah, Abraham was rich, rich) and his son, and started his journey to Moriah. Now if you know this story, you know what happened. He ends up obeying God the whole time and was willing to sacrifice his son, to the point of tying him up and putting him on an altar of wood. However, before he was about to take his son's life, God stopped him. IT WAS A TEST!! Abraham passed. After seeing Abraham’s faith, God told him, “…because you have done this, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars.”(Genesis 22:15) He saw such powerful faith in Abraham through this test. Would you have had the strength to say yes to God, after he gave you such extreme instructions?
There are so many moments in my life when I notice it is so hard to fully give things to God and I even have anxiety about it. When did those things in my life become bigger than God or better yet, when did I become bigger than God in my life?
I remember a time, not that long ago, where I was stressing extremely HARD about finances. I was in the gym listening to a podcast when someone on the pod said something along the lines of, “Once I TRULY gave it to God, He was finally allowed to do something about it. I just had to realize it wasn’t going to be done in my way!” I was instantly convicted after he said that. I had allowed myself to say to my Father, “God, I am willing to do whatever you want with me and my life, but I can’t allow you to take 100% of it, and I won’t let you run with it, because I still won't let go as I want to do it my way.” I realized that even though God has given me amazing blessings and gifts, it is my own selfishness and blindness that keeps me from giving it back to him so he can use it His way. When I did give stuff back to him, I noticed that they were coming back into my life in a better way than if I was in control. Also with that, it’s faith AND deeds. You can’t just expect God to have your desires fall from the sky after “giving it to him,” you need to put in the work, like Abraham did.
Think of Abraham in this moment, of the stress his human side was putting on him, and of the sadness of the reality of doing what he had to do, because he was commanded to do it. He obeyed anyway, without hesitation. When can I come to a place in my life where I can have faith like that in my finances, and in my relationships? In every decision in my life I want to be able to truly give it to God, and be obedient to Him. Knowing that even though my flesh HATES me for doing things that will be hard in my life, I will have a faith that will remind me that whenever doubt might try and take over, God’s will for me IS the best outcome for my life.
God bless,
Gabriel Knapp, FCA student.
