The Path Not Intended to Travel
Have you ever considered the implications of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Sure everything ends up wonderful and Isaac is spared. Sure it is a profound analogy of God offering up Jesus. But…
Have you ever considered that God asked Abraham to do something God did not want him to do?
Was Abraham Supposed to Kill Isaac?
God told Abraham to offer up his son as a sacrifice. Then God stops Abraham before he could follow it through. How many of us would have continued with the sacrifice holding on to what God originally said?
The thing that gets me is that God seems to lead us into situations and even leads us into decisions through prayer that He does not want us to ultimately follow through on. He seems to be getting us to a point of obedience that we would go and do whatever and then because of our willingness to do that first thing, He leads us into something even better. This is what happened to Abraham.
Did God Deliver Saul Into David’s Hands?
This is also what happened to David. He is getting chased all over Israel by Saul. Then on two separate occasions God gives Saul into David’s hands. Both times David could have easily ended all of his running around. Both times he feels that God does not want him to harm Saul.
The funniest example I have heard about this is Jesus before He is betrayed tells His disciples to get swords (Luke 22:36-38). Then when Peter tried to use one later on to protect Jesus, Jesus tells him to put it away.
God is Intentional With Us
I don’t claim to understand all of God’s ways. What I do know is that He is intentional with us. He is leading down a path where we will have greater freedom from sin, greater power over the enemy, and greater joy in our lives. He is a loving Father that want His best for His children.
I have been thinking about this lately because, my wife and I feel God leading us to slow down our adoption. We are currently on the second attempt to adopt a little girl. Our first attempt was postponed by the announcement that we were pregnant with our second child.
Faith Leads Us Into the Unknown
Both times we have felt very clearly that we were to start the adoption process. Both times we have given a lot of our time and money into trying to be obedient. We may have mis-heard His direction. We may also have heard Him correctly, but He did not want us to finish the adoption. Maybe the answer is another unknown alternative. I don’t know the answer to that yet. I do know that God loves and rewards faith and obedience (John 14:15 and Hebrews 11:6).
I do not know what God is doing at this time, but I know He loves me. I know that He will take care of me and my family. I am know that He has already blessed me with more than I ever would have dreamed possible. So, I will press on with where I feel He is leading, and I will continue to press in to Him to enjoy this wild ride He has me on.