Genesis 21:22-24:27

God's test. This is always a hard passage for me to read. Even if I know it has a happy ending. I just hate seeing kids in trouble.

It's just hard for me to imagine God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son. I know he did. But I would have been screaming at God. Yet again, Abraham just obeys. Maybe his steps of faith in the past and seeing God's protection and faithfulness toward him had brought him to this point of complete trust. Maybe he was screaming on the inside. Or maybe he had just given his child over to God's care.

I don't think I would have passed this test. But Abraham did. He held nothing back from God. And I'm reminded that God himself faced this same test when His son was put on another altar. He held nothing back for us. And His son wasn't spared.

Abraham's son was, though. The ram for the sacrifice was in the thicket. God does provide.

Don't you wonder, though, how this affected Isaac? We don't know how old he was at this point. Old enough to ask where the sacrifice was, so old enough to understand. But here you are, out with Dad for an adventure, out to worship God. Suddenly you're tied up and put on the altar, Dad comes at you with a knife, and then everything's ok. I would think it would torment the child for years. But we don't hear that. Maybe Isaac learned the same lesson as Dad. That God would provide. And that obedience leads to blessings. Maybe Dad had taught Isaac enough about God at this point that he trusted him completely, too.

What tests do I have to face? How will I respond?

By the way, that finishes week 1. Keep up the good work!