FROM FEAR TO PROVISION

        All of my life I have been an "afraid" kind of person all of my life. I have never had anything horrible happen in my family or in my life to warrant this kind of attitude, but I can remember being young and waiting on my dad to get home from a business trip worried that he would be killed in a car accident. This is when I was about 7-9 years old. I had thoughts like this for most of my life. I was reading in Genesis 22 when Abraham was living a happy life. His wife in her old age bore a son, named Isaac who was their beloved!  One day, God spoke to Abraham and told him, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." I cannot imagine the thought process that went through Abraham's mind. I don't know if he was thinking, God, why would you give me this perfect little gift only to have it taken away? Let's look at Abraham's response to this statement.  3 "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son ; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there ; and we will worship and return to you."
          Abraham first of all followed directions and took Isaac his only son and went up to the exact place God told  him to. This reminds me of the story of Jonah when he (Jonah) went the opposite direction God told him to. We see that Abraham told his "men" that were with him that they would worship and be back. The faith that it must have taken to act even with the unknown. He didn't know if God would call him to sacrifice his only son, and he didn't know if he would test him to see if he was simply going to be obedient. Let's continue to read, "6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father !" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering ?" 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
           At this point, Abraham was certain that God WOULD provide. He knew that if he was to sacrifice his son that he would STILL provide a generation for his people other than Isaac. Abraham also knew that if he was not going sacrifice Isaac that he would offer that thanks and praise to God in heaven for the gift of his son and the generation that he would PROVIDE through Isaac. We know eventually that God did PROVIDE  a ram in the thicket so that his son did not have to be sacrificed.  In saying this I would like to remind you that some of us might not ever have to sacrifice someone we love and care for other than through natural causes (i.e., old age), but we will have to offer them up none the less. We still have to live as though they could be offered up to Christ at any time, none the less. I have known several families recently who have lost young children or spouses through either cancer, car accidents, or other sudden illnesses.  In my mind I think, am I next? Will I be the next person who will have a child diagnosed with some severe illness? Will I be the next person to lose a spouse in a car accident? The question cannot be answered by anyone other than by God himself. I can live my life in fear that God will choose to take someone I love or I can Love God without Fear in knowing he will PROVIDE.
             I am writing this blogpost without full knowledge of what is going to happen next in my life. I might lose someone I love very dearly today. But like Abraham, I MUST lift them up to God in sacrifice knowing his plan is going to be accomplished. More importantly,  I must remember that Jesus gave his ONE AND ONLY, SINLESS son up on a cross knowing that he would be in pain, agony, and embarassed because of the conditions the soldiers and others would put him through. Yet he fully gave him up for the plan of PROVISION of Eternal Life for you and I. Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors."

What a Beautiful Plan, What a Beautiful PROVISION.

Jamie