When God Says Surrender

Genesis 22:9-13

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Life was great for Abraham. He finally had his son he'd longed and prayed for. He had God's promise of blessing his seed. He'd left home and journeyed to the new place God had for him. But one day God told Abraham to do something crazy and hard. It didn't make sense what he wanted. He wanted Abraham to sacrifice his only son as aburnt offering. That "burnt offering" was an indication of total surrender and complete devotion to God. In that time the Pagans would sacrifice their kids to their gods. God wanted to see if Abraham was as committed as they were. 

Abraham got up early and journeyed for 3 days to the exact spot God told him to go. When they got to Mount Moriah Abraham and Isaac climbed the mountain alone to worship and make a sacrifice. He gave Isaac the wood to hold..little did he know that wood would soon be holding him. Abraham was obedient but was also listening for God's voice. It says Abraham "lifted up his eyes" twice..the first time to see that certain place God had chosen and the second time to see that certain provision God had placed just for them! 

Can you imagine how thankful Isaac must have been because of that ram stuck in the thicket! I'm glad He provided and he continues to provide today! 

Sometimes our dedication to God will involve putting others on the altar. Those who make the journey to worship with you. Sometimes God says lay it down. Sometimes God says pick it up. Whatever he's saying we must be willing to obey. He sees. He will provide. He wants to be put first and the things that are in his way need to be dealt with. "When I lay my Isaac down with a broken heart, but my Father's proud..and on this altar here he lays just to find it wasn't him..God wanted me!" Surrender is one of the hardest things to do. I always have a hard time with letting go. When we surrender we lose control over whatever were letting go of. Idk about y'all but I'm a control freak! God allowed Abraham to keep his son and he also provided exactly what they needed..because Abraham trusted and obeyed! When we let go, and trust HE knows best He will provide just what we need, right when we need it.