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Sunday - 9:15 AM Sunday School, 10:30 AM Worship Service

by: Denise Robinson

04/16/2021

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Our devotional series based on the book Climbing with Abraham by David Ramos continues. Last week, we focused on another promise God made to Abraham: the promise of land. This promise took even longer than the promise of a child, and yet God calls us to be patient and trust that promises made will come true. In the meantime, however, we are called not just to sit and wait, but to do live and to act for God.  
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Week 22: Read Genesis 22:1-5 (Our Faithful Provider)


"Everything slows to a snail's pace as chapter 22 begins. The last few chapters have catalogued decades of Abraham's life, but this entire chapter covers only a few days to emphasize their relative importance. God decides to test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He uses extra words to convey the importance of Isaac to Abraham ("your only son, whom you love"). While human sacrifice would have been looked down upon, it wasn't unheard of in that time. Abraham saddled his donkey with the very expectation that he may not be coming back with his son alive.

Our characters continued on until they came upon the mountain God had ordained. As Abraham and his son begin to climb, a curious Isaac asks what they will be sacrificing. A hopeful, heavy-hearted Abraham replies: God will provide. Think of all the questions that must have been swirling around Abraham's head during all of this: why would God ask this of me? How is God going to keep God's promises if Isaac is dead? What did I do to deserve this? Would God really go through with this?

I imagine that climb had to be the hardest moment of Abraham's life. Everything he hoped and prayed and waited for was now about to be laid down on an altar. He would have to give the boy back to God in the worst way: by killing Isaac himself. Well, through all this, Abraham is consistently obedient and hopeful. He doesn't wait a week or a month to think about it. Instead, he leaves the very next morning. He doesn't give himself time to let doubt or fear change his mind. He moves, trusting that the same God who brought him this far will continue to take care of him. And so he continued the climb.

You will be asked to climb too, at some time during your walk with Christ. It is for great reasons that God asks impossible things of his servants. But when we are asked, we won't be able to see the greatness through the pain. All Abraham could see was the possibility that his son might die. However, he was able to keep his hope by remembering that God had always provided for him.

When God asks great (difficult) things of you, you will only see God's request as a loss on your part unless you remember that he is your provider and that whatever God is doing will benefit you in the end. As we will see next week, Abraham's worst fear did not come true because, just as he hoped would happen, God provided."
___________________________
Takeaway from today's lesson:  God is our ultimate provider. God's actions are always for our provision even when we can't see it.

Prayer: God, when you ask difficult things of me, please remind me that this too will somehow work out for my good. Amen.
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Our devotional series based on the book Climbing with Abraham by David Ramos continues. Last week, we focused on another promise God made to Abraham: the promise of land. This promise took even longer than the promise of a child, and yet God calls us to be patient and trust that promises made will come true. In the meantime, however, we are called not just to sit and wait, but to do live and to act for God.  
__________________________
Week 22: Read Genesis 22:1-5 (Our Faithful Provider)


"Everything slows to a snail's pace as chapter 22 begins. The last few chapters have catalogued decades of Abraham's life, but this entire chapter covers only a few days to emphasize their relative importance. God decides to test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He uses extra words to convey the importance of Isaac to Abraham ("your only son, whom you love"). While human sacrifice would have been looked down upon, it wasn't unheard of in that time. Abraham saddled his donkey with the very expectation that he may not be coming back with his son alive.

Our characters continued on until they came upon the mountain God had ordained. As Abraham and his son begin to climb, a curious Isaac asks what they will be sacrificing. A hopeful, heavy-hearted Abraham replies: God will provide. Think of all the questions that must have been swirling around Abraham's head during all of this: why would God ask this of me? How is God going to keep God's promises if Isaac is dead? What did I do to deserve this? Would God really go through with this?

I imagine that climb had to be the hardest moment of Abraham's life. Everything he hoped and prayed and waited for was now about to be laid down on an altar. He would have to give the boy back to God in the worst way: by killing Isaac himself. Well, through all this, Abraham is consistently obedient and hopeful. He doesn't wait a week or a month to think about it. Instead, he leaves the very next morning. He doesn't give himself time to let doubt or fear change his mind. He moves, trusting that the same God who brought him this far will continue to take care of him. And so he continued the climb.

You will be asked to climb too, at some time during your walk with Christ. It is for great reasons that God asks impossible things of his servants. But when we are asked, we won't be able to see the greatness through the pain. All Abraham could see was the possibility that his son might die. However, he was able to keep his hope by remembering that God had always provided for him.

When God asks great (difficult) things of you, you will only see God's request as a loss on your part unless you remember that he is your provider and that whatever God is doing will benefit you in the end. As we will see next week, Abraham's worst fear did not come true because, just as he hoped would happen, God provided."
___________________________
Takeaway from today's lesson:  God is our ultimate provider. God's actions are always for our provision even when we can't see it.

Prayer: God, when you ask difficult things of me, please remind me that this too will somehow work out for my good. Amen.
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