Day 19 of 365...
Genesis 22-24
Key Passages/Thoughts:
Gen 22:2-4,8 - "'Take your son,' He said, 'your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.' So early in the morning Abraham got up, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about...Abraham answered, 'God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' Then the two of them walked on together."
My son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was 3 months old. After my wife and I went through the "why" phase of dealing with it, God brought this story to mind. My wife and I began to realize that God was telling us that our son was like Isaac, and we were to be like Abraham. We realized early in his life that we would have to lay our son on the "altar," so to speak, on a daily basis. God loves our son more than we ever could, and we know that God has something special in store for him. However, it's easy to want to take over the controls when it comes to your own child. It is then that I am reminded of this story. Abraham showed ultimate faith and trust. In the face of having to sacrifice his only son, Abraham believed that God would provide the lamb that was needed for the offering. Abraham trusted God even as he was binding up his only son and placing him on the altar. He trusted God even as he raised the knife to "slaughter his son." You want to talk about passing a test with flying colors. There were times when my son's life was hanging in the balance (on several occasions), and I could hear God whisper, "Do you still trust me?" Honestly, there were times when I thought I did, but the reality was that I didn't. I have never had my faith tested more! However, through all the struggles, all the pain and suffering, I began to lay my son on the altar more and more and trust that God had it under control even when the doctors didn't. This story strikes a chord deep within my soul. My prayer is that as I journey on with my son through his inevitable struggles with this disease that God grants me the courage to help him face these battles with a sense of purpose and resolve.
Gen 24:42-44 - "'Today when I came to the spring, I prayed: Lord, God of my master Abraham, if only You will make my journey successful! I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug, and who responds to me, 'Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels also'—let her be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master's son."
How specific are you when you pray? This brings me back to my last post. We need to stop praying in generalities. One of the advantages of praying specifically is that you can see when God answers your prayers! For instance, after my wife and I got married, we planned to go to seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. While in seminary, we both felt that I should serve on a church staff somewhere. We began to pray for a church that was looking for a youth minister and that had a house for the youth minister to live in, which very few churches have. I think you see where this is heading...we received a phone call from a church in Seagoville, Texas that fit all those criteria. God answered our specific prayers. Even after that experience, I don't always pray specifically. I know...it doesn't make any sense. I'm just thick headed sometimes. However, I've begun to realize the importance of praying with confidence and praying with specificity. The more I read about the things God did through prayer in the Bible, the more I realize that I need to pray in that manner. God is just waiting for us to pray with that kind of power! It's time to stop limiting God with our prayers and our ideas of what He can do! I pray that God continues to break down my ideas about Him and replace them with the realities of who He is!
That's kinda mean, there are a lot of healthy babies born but I guess it's the luck of the draw and life in general. it's almost like he's just rubbing it in, do you still trust me? He already knows if we will trust him or not, but God operates in the present with us he doesn't hold it against us the future. So it's for our sake. I just find it hard to believe God does these kind of things. It's very hard when there is hurt and no understanding and we get a one size fits all bible verse about trust, faith etc. I don't know anymore. Just trust so we can make it to heaven.
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