RENAMING YOUR MOUNTAIN
Sarah Sloan
Today's Scripture: “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” Genesis 22:13, ESV
Theme: God Himself provided the substitutionary sacrifice for Isaac, and for my sins.
BAD EXAMPLES
Have you ever had to obey a boss, teacher, or parent when you completely disagreed with them? Have you ever had to follow someone in whom you had zero trust? It can feel hopelessly daunting and can infuse any situation with what feels like justifiable anger.
When I was younger and first read the story of Abraham having to sacrifice his only son, I felt like I could relate to Abraham. I had been required to follow the lead of coaches and teachers that required “pointless” sacrifices. God’s request of Abraham enraged me, it made me question God’s goodness. Of course, God provided. However, He also put Abraham in the situation to begin with. How could this be good?
PERSPECTIVE CHANGE
It took years for my understanding of this story to change. First, my view of God had to change. I began to understand that I was limiting God when I categorized Him in the same group as the examples of poor leadership I had witnessed. Over time I came to learn that the view of God I had built was based on assumptions was completely different than the true God of the Bible.
First, God is always all good. “... God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b, ESV). Goodness is His nature; He can’t be untrue, even to Himself. He cannot choose to be evil, hurtful, or hateful. He cannot sin. This defining difference means that we cannot compare and contrast Him to the examples of flawed human leadership we have seen or experienced.
Second, God also gives us multiple promises that we can rely on when it comes to trying times in our lives. He says that we should give our burdens to Him and He will carry them. He will make the weight placed upon us to be light. He will never leave or forsake us, and He will bring good from what was meant for evil. He even promises to never break His promises. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13, ESV).
A NEW STORY
When my view of God changed, my view of this Bible passage changed. I realized that God had been taking Abraham on a faith walk for years. God had started out small, teaching Abraham to hear His voice and follow Him into a new land. Abraham spent his time moving around, listening to God. Sometimes Abraham doubted God and failed, but every time, no matter how unfaithful Abraham was, God was always faithful.
This faith walk was about Abraham growing, it was about his character developing, and about his faith in God becoming unshakable. God desires this for us, too. He desires for us get to the point of realizing, as Abraham did, that if God asks something from us, we can rely on His goodness and provision.
By the time God asked Abraham for the sacrifice of his son, Abraham’s faith in God was unshakable. The heroes of the faith are recounted in the New Testament including this specific testing of Abraham “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19a, ESV). Abraham didn’t put limits on God. He knew God could do anything, even raise his son from the dead. Abraham also trusted that God was completely good and completely faithful, but this trial taught Abraham something new about the character of God. Abraham learned that God is the provider and that He always makes a way.
Make It Personal: Every one of us goes through trials, testing and suffering. When you go through the valley, will you choose to rely on God and believe that He is good and faithful, and that He will provide? Abraham was a hero of the faith simply because He trusted in the goodness of God, even when he couldn’t see how everything was going to turn out.
When Abraham left that mountain, he didn’t name it after the hardship he endured. He renamed it after what he learned about God: Jehovah Jireh, or The Lord Will Provide. Will you define your life by the hardships that are behind you or by the ways in which God has faithfully come through for you? How will you rename your mountain?
Pray: God, help me to see You as You truly are. Help me not to define You by my interactions with others. I want my faith to grow, and I want to know You more. I see how, in even the hardest situations, you have been there, You are faithful. You love me and You will provide a way. Thank You for providing the ultimate sacrifice in Your Son Jesus. Help me to understand that in every situation, You are more than enough. Because of Jesus, I don’t have to work to earn Your love or forgiveness. Thank You that that work is done. Help me not to look behind, but to keep my eyes fixed on You. Amen
Read: Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19; Philippians 4:19-20; Romans 8:31-32
Weekly Memory Verse: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7, ESV