You'll Know it When You See It

In Genesis 22 the Lord asked something "huge" of Abraham...to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Here is what the Bible says in verse 2...Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." He told him what to do but not exactly where to do it. He said to go to the mountainous region of Moriah and that he would recognize the place when he got there.

As I think about future things and the vision of my life and the church I pastor, I remember the moments that I have felt like I was being asked to let go of something precious to me. Maybe you have been through that as well. To end the life of a business...a relationship...or a job path. Often we find ourselves in this dilemma between obedience and our own agenda and the hardest thing to do is to kill our agenda and let the obedient life live.

In 2000 the Lord inspired me to come back to Tulsa. I had a job I was hired to do but I also had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a long lasting thing. I felt in my heart that I was supposed to pastor people. I was being sent into a land of churches to eventually start a church! Maybe that is what Abraham felt like being in a land of mountains and having to discern the right one. You see when we are obedient to what God asks, He will provide what is necessary to bring about the best possible result in what may have sounded like a very bad idea or been a confusing situation. At the very mountain that Abe chose, God provided a lamb...a sacrifice...a pleasant ending to a test of his obedience. The end result was that Abe feared the Lord and obeyed ALL of His commands.

There may be some things in your life right now that God is asking you to give up...to let go of. It may be hard because you don't know how to disconnect or detach. There may even be a part of you that wants to hold on for dear life. Let me say to you that what you are willing to let go of will determine what the Lord is able to let in to your life. For Abraham God brought a lamb...a substitute so that his son of promise could live.

For each person it may be something different. Your decision may not be life or death but it will have an impact on your spiritual life. God sent His Son Jesus to be the sacrificial lamb for you so that you could live life to its fullest and find joy and peace for eternity. By fearing the Lord and obeying His commands you can not only become part of the blessing that was given to Abraham, you can be a child of promise too! Which mountain is your lamb on? Just keep walking by faith...you will know it when you see it!