Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

---

Read

Genesis 22:9-14 (NRSV)

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

---

Reflect

“The Lord will provide” was a truth that Abraham did not question. God had always provided for him, always answered his prayers. Abraham learned to trust in God’s promises. So when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Abraham trusted that God would provide the lamb. Isaac did not understand, but he trusted his father and was willingly obedient.

As a young wife, I found it difficult to trust my husband completely—not because of anything he had done, but because of my own lack of self-worth. I knew he was a wonderful person. I felt he deserved someone better than me. In my mind, I knew he could easily find someone better. In one battle with my jealous self-doubt, I questioned my husband’s faithfulness to me. He assured me, “Even if I could do that to YOU, I couldn’t do that to ME. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.” I knew without a doubt that he was speaking the truth. I had married a man of integrity, a man of God. I could trust him to be faithful to God and, therefore, to me.

Because God had always been faithful to Abraham, he could trust God in this situation as well. Abraham and Isaac passed the test of faithfulness through their trust. God knew that he could completely trust Abraham. There is every reason for us to trust God in the same way.

---

Pray

Lord, it is our own self-doubt that causes us to doubt you. You provided the sacrifice for Abraham, and you provided the Lamb of God for our salvation. You have always provided for us, and we can rest assured that you always will. Amen.

Go with God.