Faith for Generations

“So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:14 (NIV)

Arise and shine, dear one! God is with you!

Genesis 22 walks us through a famous story of God testing Abraham, telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. God provided a ram as the sacrifice, sparing Isaac and foreshadowing Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice in our place.

As I read through this story recently, I looked at it from a different perspective. I thought of Isaac and what this experience was like for him. Scripture doesn’t reveal their emotions or thoughts, but in Hebrews 11:17-19 we are clued in that Abraham believed God’s promise and reasoned that God could raise the dead, if needed, to fulfill His plan.

I wonder if Abraham explained this belief to Isaac as he bound his son and prepared to sacrifice him. Maybe he told Isaac, “Even if you die, I believe God will raise you back to life because God promised me that it would be through you that He would build a nation.”

Isaac witnessed God’s faithful provision of that ram that was then sacrificed in his place. Kristi McLelland, in her book Rediscovering Israel (pg. 57), explains that “in Hebrew, it doesn’t say God provides. Rather, it says, “God will see [to it] – meaning that when God sees, He is motived to act.”

I imagine that as God acted in that moment, providing the ram in Isaac’s place, not only Abraham’s faith and trust in God grew, but Isaac’s did as well. This was a story both of them witnessed and would be passed on for generations to come.

Sometimes when we face testing and trials, we may not see what’s going on or how God is at work, but others are watching how the story plays out. As our faith grows through seeing God provide, those that witness that story also grow in their faith. As you go through hard times, God may not just be writing your testimony, by the testimonies of your children, friends, and family who are witnesses to what God is doing.

In what areas of your life do you need God to provide? Take heart, dear one! God’s story in your life isn’t over yet. He may be building a testimony of God’s faithfulness that lasts for generations.