I have been reading the book, “How To Quiet A Hurricane – Strategies For Christian Endurance In The Midst Of Life’s Storms” by Justin Kendrick. If you feel like your life is currently in the middle of a hurricane…I highly recommend this book.
The author pointed something out that I had never thought of before, concerning my favorite story in the Bible. He was talking about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on the altar. I have shared with you before that this story is my favorite because after God tells Abraham that he is to sacrifice his son, scripture tells us that “the next morning”, Abraham sets out with Isaac to fulfill God’s instructions. No arguing. No trying to “deal” with God. No whining and complaining. No…Abraham immediately obeyed His God. That’s the kind of obedience I want to have in my life. But if I’m honest…I’m a long way from having that level of complete surrender.
So that is probably why the Lord spoke to me last week when I read about another aspect of this story which I had never thought of. The author of this book talked about the ram in the story. Kendrick shared, “Just as Abraham raised the knife to take the life of his son, God intervened and told him to stop. Abraham had passed the test. At that very moment, he looked up and saw a ram caught in the nearby thicket. He then sacrificed the ram in place of his son.”
I’ve read about this part of the story many times, but I had never thought about one intriguing detail which the author pointed out. It is the fact that Abraham didn’t see the ram until he had lifted the knife to sacrifice his son. A ram is a full-grown male sheep. Smaller rams weigh about 120 pounds, while larger rams can weigh over 500 pounds. This is not a small animal, and it would not have been quiet if it were stuck in a nearby bush.
The author wrote, “Have you ever seen an animal trapped in a thornbush, struggling to get out? I recently saw a video of a horse stuck in mud. It thrashed and neighed and flailed its body all over the place. It makes no sense that Abraham wouldn’t have been aware of this animal while he was tying Isaac to the altar. But he didn’t see or hear the ram because God’s provision isn’t fully seen until we are tested, and we surrender.” OUCH.
There’s that word that makes me squirm sometimes…surrender. I’ve shared with you before that I tend to be a control freak…so the thought of complete surrender to someone else’s directions – even if their God’s – can be difficult for me. I tend to want to bargain with Him. I want to only meet Him halfway so that I can still keep some control. But as was pointed out in this book, “We trust God with half our hearts while we cling to our false notions of control. We might experience glimpses of God’s provision, but we don’t see radical miracles because the ram only becomes visible once we’ve surrendered what we love most.” Once again…OUCH.
Ever since I read this last week, I’ve been wondering what miracles I haven’t seen fulfilled, because God was waiting for me to surrender. You see, I want to see the ram BEFORE I completely surrender. I want to see my “way out” of a situation, BEFORE I give Him complete control.
But that’s not how God usually operates. He wants us to trust Him enough to give everything to Him, without seeing the end result first. Will it be easy? I can only answer for myself and for me…it won’t be easy. Will it be worth it? Oh yes…I believe it will be worth it. Because my goal is to have my story read: “And the Lord told LuAnn to ________...and the next morning she obeyed. No arguing. No trying to “deal” with God. No whining and complaining!
“God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you. You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!”
Deuteronomy 13:3-4 The Message
