Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. – Genesis 22:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 11, 2012): Genesis 22

What is the plan that you have for the rest of your life? What is it that you want to accomplish with the days that you have left? As I got up this morning I had a moment. I was sitting in my office and looking at the bookshelves that sit across from my desk. I wasn’t really looking at the books that were there, but I was thinking of all of the things that I still want to do. I thought about the books that I want to write, the sermons that I want to preach, and the websites that I want to build. And I realized in that moment that I have a lot that I have yet to accomplish. And the question is this – how am I going to get there? There is a second question, one that I don’t like to think of and it is this – how much of what I want to accomplish does God want me to accomplish?

It may surprise you to hear this from me, but I don’t always know where it is that God is going. Let me rephrase that, sometimes it seems that I never know where God is going. In this I am more like Isaac than I am like Abraham. Abraham had an idea of what God was doing. I don’t know whether it was a prophetic moment that he experienced here when he said that God would provide the sacrifice or whether he was just trying to spare Isaac the mental anguish that he would experience if he knew that he was the sacrifice, but the reality is that Abraham had a bit of an idea of what was going on. Isaac, on the other hand, knew none of this. He was simply along for the ride.

And that is the description of me. Often it just feels that I am the one who is just along for the ride. And there might be some that would say that it is because there something wrong inside of me. But I have a different answer. I think it is a way that God teaches me faith.

We need to be able to walk in faith – and that is something that I sometimes struggle with. And so God leaves me like Isaac. I have to learn to submit to his will and direction, even when I don’t understand everything that is going around me.

We are designed to be a people of faith. We trust that God has a plan. But we don’t require that we know everything that will happen. Only that God will provide. And it is the God that will provide that we gather to worship. 

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 1

Note:  Happy Birthday Dad


Also, the VantagePoint Sermon "The Price of Following - Costly Grace" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here. http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Price_of_Following___Costly_Grace.htm