Faith On The Line - Stress, Stress Go Away Vol 19 | Page 9

bearing children and to a father
who never thought the day
would come.
Several years later, God again came
to Abraham. He asked him to do
something we in our culture can’t
understand, but which Abraham
could. The pagan culture he grew
up in sacrificed children to the
gods. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering on
Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2).
Years before, Ishmael and Hagar
had left because of the fighting and
jealousy between Sarah and Hagar,
and now God wanted Abraham to
give Him his only remaining child,
the only child he and Sarah had,
the child of God’s promise.
Abraham obeyed.
Parting company with his servants
before he and Isaac climbed the
mountain where Isaac was to die,
Abraham told them, “We will go
and we will return.” On the mountain
top, they built an altar, the wood was
placed on it, and Isaac voluntarily
became the sacrifice.
When Abraham raised his hand to
slay his son, God intervened. “ ‘Do
not lay a hand on the boy,’ He said.
‘Do not do anything to him. Now I
know that you fear God, because
you have not withheld from Me your
son, your only son’ ” (Genesis 22:12).

Abraham
believed God
would make
it all work out.

Abraham expected
God to bring Isaac
back to life (see
Hebrews 11:19). He
didn’t know exactly
what was going to
happen or how it
would unfold. All he knew was that
Isaac would be alive when it was over.
Abraham believed God would make it
all work out.

Is it possible that the events in Abraham’s life were designed by God to lead
up to this point? Abraham had one crucial lesson to learn, and we are no different. Abraham was successful by human
standards on his own before he chose
to follow God on the long journey.

He only lacked one thing. Abraham
desperately wanted a son. It was the
one thing he desired most, and yet he
was completely incapable of acquiring
it on his own.
By human standards, we too can
be successful without following
God. However, there is one thing
none of us can do. We cannot produce
a character like God’s. Just as it was
impossible for Sarah to have a baby in
her old age, it is fundamentally impossible for us to change our nature (see
Jeremiah 13:23).

A Subtle Deception

The delusion of religion is that
it lowers the standard of what God’s
character is actually like. (Note the
contrast between the religion of the
religious elite in Jesus’ day, and the
exalted walk to which Jesus called
them in Matthew 5.) And then, after
having lowered the standard, the
delusion leads us to believe we can
make it on our own.
The undertone of most religions is that
you cannot even get to God or the gods
until you first become good. Herein lies
the failure of religion and the subtle
deception many Christians find themselves laboring under.
Abraham desired to have a son
and had the will and determination
to make it happen at any and all
costs. He even wished God could be
satisfied with Ishmael. We may have
the desire to be good, and may
even try everything to achieve it.
Recognizing that even our best efforts
fall short, we hope God can be
satisfied with less than perfect.
The root of this deceptive thinking
is unbelief. We simply do not believe
that God can do what He says He will
do. It is this unbelief that causes us to
make choices we think will make us
“better” faster.
Unbelief will even make things opposed to God’s clear instructions
appear logical—like taking a second
wife to have a child. Unbelief is what
keeps us out of heaven.

Christ will Lead Us

How do I know if I believe or
not? If my opinions and views don’t
agree with God’s Word and I default
back to my personal views and
opinions, I’m an unbeliever.
What must I do to be saved if I
find myself an unbeliever? I must
let go of all my baggage, ideas, and
opinions in order to follow Christ.
He will lead me on a journey that
will end with a mountain top realization that despite all the odds and
impossibilities: Jehovah Jireh—”The
LORD Will Provide.”
Do not worry about your imperfections.
Worry about what path you are on.
Jesus bids you, “Come and follow Me”
(Matt. 4:19). And you can be “certain
that God, who began the good work
within you, will continue His work until
it is finally finished on
the day when Christ
Jesus returns” (PhilipDo not worry
pians 1:6).

about your
imperfections.
Worry about
what path you
are on.

It’ s a lot more frightening to follow God
into the unknown
than it is to be
religious, but the
results are infinitely
better. Heaven is not
for everyone. It is only for those who
believe God can do anythi