Andy and I were asked to each write a devotional as part of our home church's annual conference in January, called R3 (Refresh, Renew, Restore). Here's mine, below. I hope it helps someone!
"What is your Isaac?"
Scripture References: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son” Hebrews 11:17 NIV
Observation: Before I met my husband I had some big dreams. I was in graduate school getting my master’s degree in biblical archaeology. I was going to be like a female Indiana Jones, teaching students about biblical history and digging in the dirt on weekends. I had a life plan that I’d been working toward for a number of years and it was going to be fabulous! I was sure that God had planted this desire in me, and I was going for it with gusto. When things started to get serious between my then boyfriend Andy and me, I suddenly became confronted with the reality that God had called him to be a missionary to Ecuador, and that if we were going to be married….well, I wouldn’t be Indiana Jonesing it on weekends in the Middle East. I was torn and I had to make a decision. I had felt certain that God set me on a path to my graduate work in archaeology, but I was also feeling pretty certain that God was leading me to marry someone who was going to be a missionary in Ecuador. Did God contradict himself when he gave me the first dream and then confronted me with a completely different path for my life? Was I going to surrender to God’s “new” dream for my life and truly believe that this plan was infinitely better than mine? Or was I going to forge ahead with the dream I’d been cultivating for so many years?
When we read the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis, we are very aware of how much he and Sarai want a son. They want one so much that they are willing to take matters into their own hands and have a child through Sarai’s female slave, Hagar, trying to fulfill God’s promise on their own since He was just taking too long. Knowing the lengths they’ve gone to, and how much their child means to them, it’s a shocking twist in the story when God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. God gave Abraham a dream. He gave him a dream of having offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky… and then God went and told Abraham to take that dream and kill it with his own hands. Did God contradict himself when he told Abraham he would have countless offspring and then asked him to sacrifice the dream he loved most?
I think what’s most surprising about this story is not what God asked of Abraham, but what Abraham did in response. Hebrews 11:17 says that by faith Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. It doesn’t say that Abraham thought about doing it, or that he was willing to do it in his heart and that immediately God knew his heart so He said “okay Abe, I was just testing you buddy!” No, it says he did it. He was obedient to what God asked him to do. He didn’t know what was going to happen, or how God was going to fulfill his promise. He heard the voice of God and he had enough faith to believe that God was good and worthy of obeying, and that same God would make good on his word.
Application: I’ve heard the quote many times that “Faith is Believing to the point of Obedience.” Why is Abraham considered the father of faith? Because he believed God so much, he was willing to give everything he had ever hoped for in order to follow God’s leading. With that I want to ask you… do you have something in your life that you need to give to God in order to see the dreams the Lord has for you? Are you willing to surrender that thing you love most, your Isaac, in order to follow the will of God in your life? Walking in God’s will and God’s plan for your life is never easy, but it is always worth it. Surrendering your life and personal dreams to Him is the only way you can fulfill His purpose for your life.
Personal Prayer Focus: Thank you, Jesus, for sacrificing Your life for me! Thank You that You have a perfect plan for me, and that it is a plan that glorifies Your Father in Heaven! Father, I just ask You today to show me what I need to do to surrender fully to Your will for my life! Matthew 16:25 tells us that “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” I ask that You give me the strength to lose my life for Your sake, and to surrender my life fully to You. Help me to see Your plans for me! Give me wisdom to know the difference in Your plans and mine, and the desire to follow what You would have for me. Let me be like Abraham, and to believe You to the point of obedience! In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.