Testing and Believing

I spent this morning catching up on a dvd lesson that I missed last week because of ankle problems.

The text was God's testing of Abraham, the very troubling story of God instructing Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, the son of promise and covenant.

The instructor (Jeff Cavins) pointed out Genesis 22:5: Abraham "said to his servants: "Both of you stay here...(the boy and I) willworship and come back to you."

I never noticed that verse before. Abraham fully expected that he would return and his son with him.

In verse 8 he says to Isaac: "God will provide the sheep for the holocaust."

No wonder God "reckoned (Abraham's) faith as righteousness." Abraham trusted God with what was most dear to him, fully believing that God would deliver both Isaac and himself even when Abraham couldn't possibly know how.

Over and over again God challenges me to trust Him. He asks me to let go of a person or an activity, a dream or a goal. It's hard. I trust and then I take it back and trust and take it back again in fear and doubt.

Sometimes God does not restore as we hoped. The death of Jesus is the prime biblical example and the resurrection is the answer. God always has a plan and a purpose, often beyond our imaginings, but always better than we could have dreamed.

My God is a rock in a weary land.