Now,
we may not know whether an issue we are facing is a test from God, or an attack
from the forces of evil, or merely fallout from our own learned habits and
desires. Yet, in the big picture, knowing this is not the issue. The issue is
being faithful.
For
example, Abraham took matters into his own hands (was not faithful) and went the
culturally acceptable path of having a child with Hagar rather than trusting
God would provide a child for him and Sarai through her womb (cf. Genesis 16). I
am not a world religions expert, but it is commonly held that Ishmael (the son Hagar
bore Abram) is the patriarch of the Arab nations, and therefore Islam.
Hmmm...that decision has not panned out very well throughout the course of
history, has it?
And
so as God’s plan for redeeming humanity progressed, He needed to test Abraham
to know whether or not he was trustworthy (cf. another lack of trusting God in
the last post). We see this test in chapter 22 of Genesis. In what is an unthinkable
and unbearable test in our eyes, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only
son – the son of the promise no less. By all accounts Abraham was willing to go
through with the sacrifice (cf. Genesis 22:9-11), but was stopped by God at the
last moment. The result of this test was, “now I know that you fear God, seeing
you have not withheld your son...” (Gen22:12).
In order to keep this out of the realm of theological debate, let us simply
focus on what is agreed upon by all (I think), the fact that God tested
Abraham. This is important for us to not only grasp, but also to accept,
because by and large we live in a culture that does not like to believe
God tests people.
Many
in our culture prefer to think God wants their life to be sheer bliss and
enjoyment, for people to have their best life now, to be healthy and wealthy,
and never have anything bad come their way. One of the many problems with these
beliefs is they are not historically true of those who follow God – let alone
Biblically true.
Yet I
want us to move beyond the mere fact that God is a God who tests us. I want us
to realize there is no way
Abraham would have been able to pass the “Isaac test” when he first started following
God (and I do not mean because Isaac was not born yet). This is because Abraham’s
faith, like anyone’s, was in its infancy when he first began to follow God.
Basically
Abraham had to learn to quit taking matters into his own hands and learn to
trust in God. Abraham needed to spend time walking with God. Abraham needed to
learn of God’s faithfulness and provision in order to be in a place where he
could trust God with the life of his son (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19).
So
what about you?
- Is your faith (trust) in God able to handle more adverse situations now than it was at the start of 2013?
- How have you tried to take matters into your own hands this past year?
- How has God met you where you were this past year?
- What decisions have you made, culturally acceptable or not, that have had a negative impact on people? Remember, God is bigger than your mistakes...but your mistakes still have fallout.
- Are you aware of possible ways God has tested you this past year?
- Do you look at difficult life situations as an opportunity to grow in your ability to respond faithfully moment by moment? Or do you wish and pray away difficulties?
- Are you following Jesus more closely at the start of 2014 than you were at the start of 2013? What is your evidence?
And
once again we come back to the Christmas Season – the Miracle of the
Incarnation. Quite often in our culture we love to hear stories about how
someone’s life was “a mess,” and then they met Jesus, and things got “straightened
out.” I am thankful for these stories. After all, Jesus showed us – concretely –
that God meets people where they are.
Yet
there are other stories I long to hear...yet those will have to wait for
another post – perhaps on the last day of Christmas as we embark on a new year
together.
No comments:
Post a Comment