Isaac’s Birth and "Sacrifice" – Genesis 21:1-22:19

Isaac’s Birth and “Sacrifice” – Genesis 21:1-22:19

Trust and Obey

Did you ever do “trust falls”?  Maybe it was in a gym class… or a leadership development program… or at a team-building activity.  The idea is that you fall backwards into the arms of the people on your team, who promise to catch you.  When you’re standing on the edge of a platform, prepared to fall backwards into the arms of the 6-8 people standing on the ground behind you, you are confronted with the idea of what it means to really trust someone.

In today’s lesson, God asks Abraham (this is Abram’s new name) to exercise a profound amount of trust.  After all, God has promised land and offspring, and the promise is finally coming true.  But here the promise is about to be challenged in an unbelievable way.  God asks Abraham to make the ultimate sacrifice, to offer his only son Isaac as an act of worship and devotion to God.

Not only is Abraham asked to give up his only son whom he loves, but Abraham is essentially asked to trust God to continue to fulfill the promise.  And yet, in a an act of trusting obedience, Abraham takes the steps necessary to follow God’s command, and God proves Himself trustworthy.

Have you fully learned that you can trust God?  Are you able to fall backward into His loving and powerful arms, trusting Him to do what is best?

But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows
And the joy He bestows
Are for them who will trust and obey.
                                        – John H. Sammis