Surrender

Genesis 22:13-14 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “The Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Do you miss the underlying meaning of this proverb, of this episode out of Abraham and Isaac’s lives? Yes, I will provide. But what is the “mountain of the Lord”? It is your obedience. Abraham was obedient – even to the moment of potentially sacrificing his only son, the son he had waited decades and decades for. The son he had been promised so long before he was born. Yet, when I asked him to do so, Abraham was willing and was at the point of actually killing his son as a sacrifice to me. It was in that obedience that I honored Abraham and Isaac and provided a sacrificial ram in Isaac’s place. Do you not see? So many of my children believe this concept wrongly. So many of my “teachers” tell their followers that I just want to provide and provide and overwhelm them with abundant blessings. Nothing about obedience. Nothing about following me. It’s all about them. About their needs. Their wants. Their desires. Their abundance. No word about their obedience. And when I don’t provide (usually immediately), they stop believing I love them. They walk even farther away from me, and from a place where they will be able to discern my commands and obey. Obedience. Patience. Waiting on me. All of that has been taught out of major portions of my “Church”. Beware false teachers. Beware words that tickle man’s ears. Beware any gospel centered on you, not on me. This is the travesty of modern preaching and teaching in so many places. Call them out. Speak up. People are being lost. Also, do not miss the fact that Abraham’s obedience to me was not a quick event. He had to prepare for the trip to the mountain. He had to gather supplies and food for the trip. He had to cut wood and gather the necessities for the sacrificial fire. He had to sharpen his knife – the knife that would take the life of his only, precious son. This was not an instant event. It took days and weeks – preparation, journey, hike up the mountain, preparation of the sacrificial altar. All took much time and planning. Imagine the torturous thoughts Abraham must have had. Imagine the slow, slow movement of time as he prepared for the loss of his precious son – at his own hand. Imagine the heaviness of each footfall of the journey, how arduous the hike up the mountain must have been. How joyless the entirety of the event. Yet, he persevered. Out of obedience. Obedience to me, the giver of everything he was about to give back to me. This was a sacrificial event like no other before it – though a premonition of my sacrifice of my son later. Imagine trusting me enough to do this. Imagine loving me enough to obey such an unbelievable command. Imagine knowing me well enough to know that, whatever the outcome, it would be the best outcome for all of you. Imagine walking in faith – such faith that when your son asks, you tell him that I would provide a sacrifice. And I did. At the last moment. Sometimes the miracle comes when everything seems decided, when it seems impossible. When you reach that miracle, you understand. Faith. Trust. Patience. Obedience. All pay off. Surrender. If you believe I love you. If you believe I want what is best for you. If you trust me. Surrender to my will.