|
Hard things show God’s grace
Doing the hard things God calls us to do reveals His amazing grace. Genesis 22 shares a significant example. YHWH, who granted Abraham his promised son Isaac [whose name means “laughter”], asks Abraham to do a very hard thing. God calls on Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This test occurred on Mt. Moriah, the rock hill that today lies under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Doesn’t that seem hard and harsh? Indeed! But Abraham didn’t kill his Laughter and Isaac didn’t need to surrender himself, because God intervened and declared His wonderful grace – that He had Himself provided a sacrifice instead.
To really understand the story, we must grasp what a shocking idea Isaac’s salvation was in that culture. In that world, the people around Abraham practiced child sacrifices regularly. The gods of the Canaanites demanded child blood, but YHWH uses this test to reveal His gracious concept that no children are to be sacrificed. God later codifies this in Moses’ Law. The Lord alone provides the sacrifice.
This story is very significant for us. We find life is hard and think that God is asking too much of us. I’ve felt that way and you either have or will. But we need to remember Abraham and Isaac. Genesis 22 teaches us that God’s sacrifice alone saves us. All the tests we face are merely signposts directing us to rely upon His sacrifice.
Abraham didn’t sacrifice his Son, but God did! God sacrificed His Son so that we could be eternally saved. Why is life hard? So that we’ll learn that we don’t stand strong through our own strength! It’s all by God’s grace. Hardship reveals His amazing grace.
God bless,
Wayne