In Chapter 22 of Genesis, God wanted to see where Abraham’s heart was, so He asked Abraham to take the thing that he loved most, his promised son, and offer him as a burnt offering. Now this had to have seemed crazy because the Lord did not call for human sacrifice as some other foreign nations had practiced. That was not part of His plan, it was not how he operated or asked for sacrifices to be, so it must have seemed odd that God would all of a sudden ask for this. And to ask for it for the son that He had promised Abraham. To ask Abraham to sacrifice the very thing he had been waiting YEARS, if not a lifetime to get, must have been a hard thing to grasp. Even though it did not make sense, Abraham knew the Lord’s voice, he had seen God come through and keep His promises, and Abraham had seen what happens to nations that were disobedient and pursued evil acts (we’re looking at you Sodom and Gomorrah!), so Abraham packed up what was needed and took his son Isaac up towards the mountain to make a burnt offering to the Lord.

After three days of traveling, Isaac spoke up and basically said “Hey dad… are we missing something? I see the things to make a fire and an alter, but where is the offering? How is this thing going to work?” Isaac must have been used to burnt offerings and alters as they were probably a normal part of his family’s life, so he knew there should have been a lamb with them for this sacrifice, but a lamb he did not see and that must have been peculiar. Abraham told his son not to worry because God would provide an offering. I cannot begin to imagine what was going through either of their minds as they traveled together on this journey.

Once they had gotten to the spot that the Lord had told them to go, Abraham built an alter and laid his son down on it, ready to make the sacrifice. Before anything happened, an Angel of the Lord spoke from heaven to say “STOP!”. The angel told Abraham that he had been faithful, that he feared the Lord and was obedient. Then Abraham saw that there was a ram in the bush right by them to use as an offering and Abraham knew that the Lord had provided.

Then the Angel called to Abraham again and said that he was blessed and that God would multiply his descendants like the stars in the sky and that his lineage would possess the cities of his enemies. All of this was because Abrahma was obedient even when it did not make sense.

God gives us many things in life: gifts, blessings, skills, talents, jobs, friend, family, resources, etc. How would we respond if He told us to sacrifice those things? To give them up freely, with no promise of a return? God is the one who gave them to us in the first place, and as Abraham tells us, He is a God of provision. He is also the God of all creation, He literally made everything that exists – including you and me. Would He not call us to do something if it was not good for us?

Be encouraged, God loves you! And if He asked you to do something that seems impossible, that does not make sense, that might even be a little scary (or A LOT scary), remember that He will meet you in that place and will provide all that you need every step of the way. Listen for His voice and trust when you hear it.