I’ve been thinking about Abraham and Isaac lately.
Isaac was the miracle child of Abraham. He had him when he was 100 years old, and his wife Sarah was 90. (Just the thought of natural childbirth at 90 boggles my mind!) An even greater miracle was that God promised that one day Abraham would have millions of descendants through Isaac. Issac was his pride, his joy, his promise, his son.
But one day, God asked Abraham to sacrifice him. Now, if that had been me, you would have heard the howling into next week. “Lord, this is my SON! The one YOU gave me. Remember that promise…the one about my descendants? How were you planning to do that if I sacrifice him? Have you thought of that, Lord? And he’s my SON…”
But Abraham wasn’t like that. Abraham had learned to live with an open hand. So early the next morning, he took Isaac, and they went up in the mountains to sacrifice.
Wait a minute…what about Isaac? He wasn’t a toddler at this point, he was a young man. He could easily have overpowered his father. But even when he understood that he was the sacrifice, he didn’t fight it. Isaac was living with an open hand, too.
When the moment of truth came, God sent His angel to stop the whole thing. “Now I know that you fear (trust, revere, honour) God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.”
God has been calling me to live before Him with an open hand. It’s hard. There are times I want to grasp and hold to those things that are precious to my heart. But the key to living with an open hand is trust. I put my hand in His 40 years ago, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is that He can be trusted. No matter what the circumstances, or how painful the pain, HE CAN BE TRUSTED.
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:” Psalm 37:4,5.
So here is my small miracle today, Lord. My open hand, reaching out to You.
How is God calling you to open your hand to Him?