Love God Greatly

I have been unbelievably blessed this evening. Even though I’ve already posted something today I feel incredibly led to share this with you.

Since kindergarten recognition, Hannah has prompted we start a family bible reading time, every night.

Hannah started this.

Hannah wanted this.

Because the baby goes to bed so soon after dinner, some nights it’s just easier to read to Hannah right before bed.

We’ve read one chapter a night since we started, at this rate it will take us a year to finish the entire Bible.

Tonight’s chapter, Genesis 22… Where Abraham’s faith is tested.

Genesis 22:2-3 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.

I don’t see anywhere in those verses where it says Abraham questioned God. Nowhere does it say that God gave Abraham a reason. He just simply obeyed.

Genesis 22:9-10  When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.  And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.

Not only did Abraham obey God, he did exactly what was asked of him.. Not what he THOUGHT God wanted him to do… It doesn’t say anywhere in this verse that Abraham hesitated either.

And this is my most favorite of all:

Genesis 22:15-18  Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven.  “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that. I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants^[a] beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

Because Abraham obeyed without question, or hesitation, he was blessed. How many times do you see a blessing because of your obedience? We are told throughout our journey as Christians that we must wait for God’s timing. God’s timing is perfect. His ways are perfect. To have faith in God is to have faith in his timing. God didn’t say “Because you have obeyed me I will give you all the earthly riches in the land”. He didn’t say “I will give you all the women, drugs, lust, power, money, intelligence”. He simply said “Because you have obeyed, I will give you the desires of your heart”. This is my absolute my favorite verse out of tonight’s chapter because our hearts desires are so simple. For me it’s to be a godly woman – WHATEVER it takes. (as soon as I wrote that I heard a small voice just whisper one word, “patience”)

It speaks so deeply to me that a father could sacrifice his ONLY child. I know that if I were in Abraham’s situation, I most certainly would have disobeyed God. I’ve already lost one child, I sacrificed that child unwillingly for the kingdom of God. I couldn't imagine losing another, especially by my own hand. But our miscarriage made me stronger, it made me a better mother, a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister, a better friend because I was able to empathize with other women on a much deeper level. It’s added so much depth to my testimony, and what my faith in God has brought me through. Not faith in my money, or my husband (even though I have tremendous faith in him), or anything with worldly value. Then and only then did I realize that God truly giveth and and He taketh away. I guess a thought along those lines is what crossed Abraham's mind. A peace beyond measure.

To know that Abraham was about to take the life of his only child must have been terrifying for him, but he obeyed anyway.

How many times do we obey God without question?

How many times DO we question when we are called to obey?

What blessed me this evening was the discussion after our reading.

My child gets it, y’all.

She understands obedience

She is pretty good about not whining when asked to do homework

Or turning off the tv for dinner

Or bedtime

Naptime is another story

She doesn’t whine about our dinner menu (because she knows if she does her Friday night menu is out the window)

She does these things because she’s been taught that if she obeys there will be reward. Not necessarily at the end of the week, or at the end of the month, but she knows it’s coming. Whether its intrinsically or extrinsically motivated isn’t a concern to me right now.

The Lord spoke to me this evening, and as usual, it was a simple message. Obey and be blessed.

Don’t you love a simple message?

Until next time,

Love God Greatly!