Genesis 21:22-22:24

I can't imagine sacrificing Eliza.  My girl is six months old at this time, babbling and cooking, yanking her hair, and even as I write this, she sits on the floor beside me playing and grinning at me.  The thought of God asking me to sacrifice my child horrifies and strickens me.  Having to give her up to an accident or illness scares me, but to take her by my own hand?  I don't think I could seriously contemplate it.

What struck me in this passage is that when Isaac asks his father where the lamb is, Abraham replies that God will provide the lamb.  Before, I had always thought Abraham had told a white lie to reassure Isaac on their journey.  Perhaps I was reading the story through the doubts I would likely have been having.  But for the first time today, I realized that even at that early stage, Abraham firmly believed that God would provide the lamb.  We also know from Hebrews 11 that Abraham, when the time came and no lamb was provided, he believed that God would resurrect Isaac.  Abraham knew and believed that God promises came through Isaac and that God would fulfill his promises.  This has been reiterated to Abraham again and again before Isaac was born and in his infancy: the fact that Hagar's son Ishmael would not receive the blessings or inheritance, that Sarah provided him with a son in their old age.  The past several years have all worked to convince Abraham of God's goodness and faithfulness, and though it was sorely put to the test, he believed and trusted that God would take care of everything: and He did.  Just before the killing stroke, God provided the lamb.

I need more of this kind of faith in my life.  When things are taken away, or threatened to be taken away, I begin to doubt my purpose, what I think God is doing, and wondering if I am just floundering around.  What if I had missed some cosmic sign from God that this is what He wanted?  Or didn't want?  I hope I am doing better as more and more trials or u-turns come my way, but I know that the Lord is working on growing my faith.  May I live up to the challenge: I want to be a devoted follower, to be Christ-like, not claiming to be Christ-like.  I'm not perfect, but Lord, I desire to give You honor.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 23:1-20