Earlier this year, a missionary named Josh Greve found himself sitting next to his son in the ICU. His son was critically ill, on a ventilator, dialysis, and his heart function fell to 35%. Each day his condition seemed to get worse, and he could not see how God would work everything out. However, his 9-year-old son miraculously survived when none of the doctors believed he would.
Sometimes, faith isn’t knowing how God will provide. Often, faith is knowing who you can trust when you don’t know the how’s and the why’s. Although we long for it, we do not need to see God’s provision before we take steps to obey God. We must trust the One who gave His all for us.
1. TRUST GOD (22: 1-3)
…when you do not understand what He is doing.
Abraham could not make sense of God’s command in verse 2. God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” God seemed to be taking away what He had promised. We must emphasize this confusion with highlighting the fact that Isaac was not just one of many sons. Isaac was actually the son through whom God had promised to fulfill His covenant with Abraham.
Abraham was being asked to trust God’s promise while facing circumstances that appeared to contradict His promise!
A young man picked up some older friends in his car for a short trip to a neighboring city. One of the men in the back seat told the driver, “I see your GPS tells you to stay on route 51. I am not sure why they would have you do that. Just take a left at the next light. It’s much better.” However, the driver stayed on route 51, choosing to follow the GPS. He could hear his friend say, “Oh, we aren’t turning? Ok. That’s fine. You’re the driver.”
Ever felt that way? Do you feel like you have a better way and better timing than what God is allowing? Can you trust God even when you do not understand God? There will be times when God’s plan does not make sense to you. Faith does not require that we understand everything that God is doing. Faith requires that we trust the One who does understand everything that is He is doing!
2. OBEY GOD (22:3-10)
…even when your obedience costs you dearly.
Abraham’s response went beyond simply agreeing with God. He got up and obeyed! Abraham’s faith has grown since telling his wife to call him her brother on two separate occasions, and since he took matters into his own hands to have a child with Hagar. Verse 5 puts a spotlight on Abraham’s maturing faith, as he says, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.” Hebrews 11:17-19 doubles down on the reality of Abraham’s faith, telling us Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead! Abraham may not have known HOW God would keep His promise, but he did believe God would keep His promise!
Jimmy went to his doctor appointment and told his doctor that he completely trusted him and just wanted him to tell him what to do about his health so he would feel better. So, the doc wrote two prescriptions for new meds to address his complaints. The weeks passed by swiftly and Jimmy never filled the prescriptions. He said he trusted the doctor implicitly, but his actions told another story.
Genuine faith clearly shows up in our everyday choices. Sometimes obeying God means giving up something we deeply love, changing our plans, forgiving someone, stepping out in faith, or simply doing what is right even though it costs us something. What has God already told you to do that you are hesitating to do? Is it to obey your parents, to honor your parents (Eph. 6:1-2), to love you enemies, to bless them that curse you, to pray for those that despitefully use you (Matt. 5:44), or is it to be forgiving as God has forgiven you (Eph. 4:32)? Abraham’s growing faith in God enabled him to sacrificially obey God. Trust the Lord when you do not understand Him, and you will find greater readiness to obey Him.
3. GIVE GOD FIRST PLACE (22:2, 9-10)
…even above the things you love most.
Look at verse 2 again, “your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.” The question is not whether or not Abraham loved his son. The question was whether or not Abraham loved God more than his son. Isaac was the greatest earthly gift Abraham had received from God!
C.S. Lewis once observed in his essay The Weight of Glory, “He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God alone.”
Here is the surprising truth: We can find God’s blessings making their way into competition with God Himself in our own hearts. Good things; like, family, positions, possessions, people, comforts, and even ministries, have the potential of becoming too important to us. Is there anything you would have difficulty surrendering to God?
4. REMEMBER THAT GOD PROVIDES (22:7-14)
…when He asks you to trust Him.
Isaac asks the obvious question in verse 7, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb?” Abraham’s answer is not one of deceit, but more of faith (especially considering his words in verse 5). The comforting reality is that God did provide a lamb; however, Abraham and Isaac did not know this at the time.
Corrie Ten Boom, a woman who survived the horrors of the WWII concentration camps wrote in her book, The Tramp for the Lord, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
All of us have spent time worrying about what we will need “tomorrow.” God is already in our tomorrows, and He will provide what we need when we need it! God is teaching us through this account that we do not have to know God’s solution before we can obey God’s direction. Are we trusting God to provide, or are we insisting God shows us His provision first?
5. Trials can deepen your faith (22:15-18)
…rather than destroy your faith.
After Abraham obeys, God reaffirms. Abraham and Isaac have both come through the fire of testing, being pushed to their limits. This was literally a life threatening experience! Now God builds them up with repeated affirmation of His covenant of promises.
Whether it was Noah in the ark, Joseph in jail, Daniel in the lion’s den, or Israel trapped between their enemies and the Red Sea, God was deepening their faith in Him.
Challenging times for a season of life is not necessarily the evidence of God abandoning us! Sometimes it is the evidence of God using those challenging times to strengthen our faith in Him.
6. Remember God’s Ultimate Provision (22:8, 13-14, 18)
…is Jesus Christ.
Genesis 22 ultimately points to Jesus Christ. Specifically, God provided a ram instead of Isaac. Centuries later (roughly 2,000 years later), God provided His own son instead of us! Galatians 3:16 says, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring, who is Christ.’”
So church, when you wonder if Christ can be trusted, look at the cross. The one true God who gave His own Son for you can be trusted for everything else!! So, trust the one true God with your daily life! He is building and deepening your faith in Himself as your redeemer, your victor, and the lover of your soul. As you walk through this week, the struggles of life are hard, but you can trust the One who gave His all for you on the cross.