Somewhere along the road of this “journey to nowhere” (Charlotte), my good friend and mentor Denny said something I have not forgotten. When we were discussing what all of this could be about, he said;
“Aaron you have to be willing to lay down your Isaac. Maybe God is asking you to give Him your Isaac. You need to determine what that is and be willing to give it to Him.”
What Denny was referring to was Genesis 22:1-15 where Abraham showed God he was obedient by laying his son on an altar. At the last moment, God provided a ram as the sacrifice and Isaac’s life was spared. I’ve often wondered if there weren’t some father-son issues after that moment. I wonder if Isaac didn’t say “dude..what was THAT all about”? But Abraham knew. Abraham was following what he believed and being obedient. In the end, God provided another way.
Over the past several months, I’ve been in search of my Isaac. Leaving Columbus was going to be hard. This is our community. This is our home. These are our friends, mentors, brothers, sisters. This is where “iron sharpens iron” and people have poured into our lives. Yet God wanted to know if we were willing to give it up. Were we willing to go as far as Charlotte to commit ourselves to his call? At the last moment, He provided a ram (not ramses the UNC mascot either!).
So my question is this…”what is your Isaac”? Are you willing to give up the thing that you treasure most in obedience to God? Are you willing to get to that final moment when it looks completely out of your control to prove just that? To prove that we are not the one in control? Give it up. Give up your Isaac today and God will prove faithful. He always does.
What’s Your Isaac?
Boy, Aaron. Did I ever need this reminder.
Maybe this perspective will help launch me into the complete submission I have been trying so hard to accomplish (and yet trying so hard NOT to accomplish) for so long now.
Thanks. And now I’m off to really chew on this post and the text it stems from…
Abraham, not Jacob.
Jess – Keep me posted! I’d like to hear what God is doing in your life.
JohnCalvin – Good catch. That’s what I get for having iTunes on while creating a post. Too many noises created that typo! Thanks for stopping by and catching my mistake.
My Isaac?
My first love. He was not a “believer”, althought he knows of Jesus, he did not have a personal relationship with Him.
He was an Isaac I had to give up.
That was close to 20 years ago…
I still have that “love” for my first love but I am so glad I chose Jesus over him. God gave me a “new love” a few years after I gave the first love up.
As a resut of my surrending to God, I am closer to Him. I know I would have been pulled away from God if I compromised and married my first love “convincing myself that I will lead him to Christ ” bacause that’s not what usually happens…
Anyway, as you can tell, this “Isaac” topic is close to my heart because that exactly what I called “him – my first love” when I gave him up 20 years ago…