Daily Devotion, July 5, 2022

 

Devotion:

Read Genesis 22:1-14.

We all face difficulties and trials that make us feel discouraged. It’s good to go to Scripture to learn how best to handle these difficulties. Abraham was known for the faith he had in God. He believed God's promise to give him and his barren wife a son, and God miraculously did this when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old!

But now the very God who had given Abraham this son was about to tell him to do something quite unthinkable: to sacrifice him as a burnt offering to the Lord. The command is made up of three simple verbs: 'Take,' 'get', and ‘sacrifice.’ We can imagine the great shock that Abraham might have felt when he heard it. He must have thought, “You gave me a son after all these years only to take him away!” But the Bible does not record any response from Abraham to this commandment, except one: Complete obedience.

We might consider God’s command to be too cruel and unreasonable to carry out. We might see God as insensitive and unfair. But let’s look at the first verse in our passage. “Sometime later God tested Abraham.” The Hebrew word nis·sāh word means “to test” or “to prove.” The command was only to test the faith of Abraham. Abraham passed this test very well and with unquestioning obedience.

Have you sometimes questioned God or doubted his goodness in allowing you to experience loss or pain? Know that a response of doubt and unbelief is not a response of faith. When we respond with faith, we are showing that even though we don’t understand the loss or pain, we trust that God is in control and will be with us in the middle of our pain. God is always good, righteous, fair, just and loving no matter what he does.

Personal Worship Option:

Some of us may be going through trials now. Others may soon be experiencing them. It may come suddenly and unexpectedly. We really can't tell what our next trial will be or when it will happen to us. Abraham’s test reminds us to trust God when our faith is tested. Pray today that your desire to trust and obey God will be strengthened.