[Great Verses] Is There Anything Too Hard for the Lord?Sample

Offer your son as a sacrifice

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Abraham is the greatest example of faith in the Old Testament, and the greatest example of his life of faith is found in Genesis 22. Can you imagine what Abraham felt when God told him to sacrifice his son? Can you imagine the heartache, the pain, the anguish? And yet, in the very next verse we read, “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac” (Gen. 22:3). He doesn’t object, argue, negotiate, filibuster, or delay. Abraham obeys immediately. Abraham obeys because he has learned that God is God and he should not question God’s will. He knew that God would take care of him no matter what happened. Understanding can wait, but obedience cannot.

When Abraham and Isaac arrive at the mountain, can you see Abraham as he slowly, somberly gathers stones for the altar, taking all the time he can, hoping against hope that God will change His mind? After gathering stones, he arranges the wood for the fire. Finally, the moment has arrived. He must tell Isaac what God had commanded. With broken sobs and tear-brimmed eyes, Abraham tells him. He hugs him as if he will never let go. Tears flow freely and unashamedly for both father and son. There’s a final “I love you, son,” and “I love you, father.”

Finally, he can delay no longer. Isaac, too big to be forced, climbs onto the altar. All heaven watches as Abraham grabs the knife and lifts it overhead, fully intending to kill his deeply loved son. But at the last moment, at the very last moment, God stops him. “He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me’” (Gen. 22:12).

Can you see Abraham now? Sobbing openly. Embracing Isaac. His chest heaving with relief, joy, and deep gratitude. Did ever a man show such childlike faith in God? Did ever a man show such fierce loyalty by obeying God no matter what? He had such a strong belief that God was God and that God could be trusted. Abraham, over a lifetime, had learned to trust God. Two thousand years later, perhaps on the very same spot, which was then named Calvary, another son would be sacrificed. Except this time, the son was God’s Son, and the Father would not spare the knife.