I have read the book of Genesis a million times- well a lot. We all learn the story of Abraham and how God told him to sacrifice (kill) his son, Isaac. Today, in church I learned another point from this story. Ready? Let's go.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son who God said His promises would come from, Abraham listened. He set out on the path, walked for 3 days and set up accordingly to sacrifice his son. We all know that in the end, God calls to Abraham just before he slices his sons throat and commands Abraham not to touch Isaac. I never took note in the scriptures that just after God told Abraham to stop, there was a ram stuck in the bushes right next to them. The lesson has always been to listen and trust God. What I didn't put together until today is that God provides the sacrifice- that is He provides what it is He will ask us to let go of. Nothing really belongs to any of us, but I feel like lots of things belong to me. I earned that money, those are MY children, this is MY car, blah blah blah. What I never recognized, is that God gave me all these things. He provided the money we needed to start our business, but it feels more like a sacrifice because it is slow to come together. I think I feel this way because in my head, that money was mine. Once again, I have it all backwards. None of this is actually mine. He provided the money to not only start our business, but to walk with Him during this test in our lives. Without God, even with a big bank account, I am literally nothing. I am not enough. Now I don't mean that in a boohoo kind of way- I mean in all my years, I have never been able to be enough or perfect for any human being. I make mistakes, I have hurt people, I have been selfish, and this list goes on. The only time I am enough, is with God. There are no expectations with God- there are no conditions for Him to love me in the same way there are those conditions with humans. So instead of being scared to follow the path God has for us, we have got to let go of what He has already provided to us in order to get to the next place. Even Abraham told Isaac on the way up the mountain God would provide the sacrifice, even when Abraham had no idea what or how God would do it.
