We live in a scary world. It seems that, recently, I have been reminded continually of this fact.
I loved what Beth Moore said in this blog post…He knows it’s scary to be us…
I thought about that for days…and, obviously, am still thinking about it. That statement brought me such comfort. He knows…
As I read through the life of Abraham again this week…I was captivated by the portion of Scripture where God calls him to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. I will admit to always being bothered by this passage. I always thought…What a horrible thing to ask of a parent…But, two things occurred to me…
It is a trust issue.
God wants us to entrust Him with the thing that is closest to our heart…whether that is a life-long dream, a painful secret that we admit to no one or, even, a child whom we adore more than anything.
I dare say that this request did not make sense to Abraham. It’s so easy to read the Bible and forget that these are not characters we are reading about, but real people. Abraham was a real father who had been asked to offer his real son as a sacrifice upon an altar of wood and fire. Abraham did not fully understand why he was being asked to do such a thing, but he trusted God.
It is an awesome foreshadowing of the sacrifice God would soon make.
…Take your only son Isaac, whom you love…and offer him there as a burnt offering… – Genesis 22:2
My horror at such a request became humility when I realized that this is exactly what God did for me.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son… – John 3:16
What an awesome, incomprehensible sacrifice our God made for us. Yes, He knew that He would raise His Son from the grave. Yet, I’m not certain that knowledge lessened the pain of knowing what His Son would endure on the cross.
I think that is how God views us as well. He knows what glory awaits us…yet, He still hurts when we hurt. He knows it’s scary to be us. This morning, I found the most amazing verse in Jeremiah.
I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel. – Jeremiah 15:21 NIV
He knows we live in a wicked and cruel world…but we are not in it alone. There is wicked all around, but He will save us from it. When we find ourselves in the grasp of the cruel…or, as the NKJV puts it…the grip of the terrible…He will redeem us.
I love that word…redeem…Yes, we will find ourselves in the grip of things terrible…in the grasp of things cruel…yet, we have this promise.
He will redeem it all.
He will make it all good in time.
He will buy back what was lost.
He will make amends
He will fullfill His promises.
Because He knows…that it’s scary to be us.
Really great thoughts, Stacy. :o)
I used to also be really disturbed about the Lord asking to sacrifice his son, Issac. ~Issac, the long-awaited son of the promise… and one day, I heard a comment that made it much more clear to me. Abraham knew Issac was the son of the covenant, the one through whom all of the Lord’s promises would be fulfilled. Abraham’s seed would become a great nation through Issac. And suddenly, the “faith hall of fame” chapter in Hebrews made sense to me. By faith, Abraham offered a more excellent sacrifice. Abraham knew that even if the Lord commanded him to kill the son of promise, the Lord could raise him up. Faith in it’s simplest form. Our God can do the impossible.