Day 5: It's Gonna Happen
Reading for Today:
Genesis 22:14 (NLT) Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Here we are, day 5 of the fast! Today may seem just a little harder than it’s been, but that’s ok! Trust the process and remember, it’s bigger than you! Just like the people we meet in today’s reading. We all have heard of Abraham. Personally, this is one of my favorite stories when it comes to the life of Abraham. By this point Abram has met God, left home, made mistakes but once again he’s back in the will of God. God comes to him and tells him in no uncertain terms, trust me enough to give me the one thing that you always wanted.
God told Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him on the mountain. Without hesitation or a second thought, Abraham packed up Isaac and headed to the mountain. Now I’ll be the first to admit that this was crazy scary! But imagine the amount of faith it took! The one thing Abraham asked God for, a son, he is now requesting of him. In my flesh, I know I would have questions. However, Abraham simply gathers his son and takes him up the mountain. It starts to get interesting…Isaac says to his father, I see the tools, but I don’t see the sacrifice. It seems without a second thought; Abraham replies to Isaac that God will provide. The thing I love is that Isaac has been exposed to God and to the process and he knows what is about to happen, but he never considers that he might be the process. Once they reach the mountain Abraham goes up the mountain with Isaac. PAUSE! The first principle we can raise here is the fact that he left behind anyone who could be a doubter and deter his process. The same is true for us as we journey through this fast. We have to be ok leaving behind those who can’t or won’t help us!
They (Abraham and Isaac) go up the mountain. Once they reach the top. Abraham ties his son up and places him on the altar. Now this is where I see major tension in the text. Most scholars agree that Isaac was not a little child at the time this happened. Isaac is believed to have been a teenager. Look at the faith that’s already been implanted in his life. Isaac allows his father to tie him up and place him on the altar. Here’s another principle for us, we have to be willing to not only sacrifice that which we deem to be important, we need to be willing to be the sacrifice! We can’t continue to say, it’s bigger than us, but still feel that everything has to revolve around us.
Abraham draws to kill his son when an angel stops him and provides him with a ram instead. In this place of surrender, the angel says to him because I know you fear God look and there was provided a sacrifice. The lesson for us here is to trust God no matter how ward it seems. No matter the cost, remember, in His time, He will provide. When fasting, you have to remember that our flesh is continually on the altar. It’s difficult but even in this, God is making a way. Today, let’s praise the God who always provides!