Up to the test?

From Genesis 22

Just when you think you've got god figured out, just when your future seems to stretch out before you with perfect predictability, that's when god has a way of pressing a new weinkle into your neat, ironed-out ideas. Like the time he told Abraham that A+B equaled...what?!?

A Quick read: Genesis 22:2a / 3a / 7

Look at it this way: Abraham's testing forshadowed the key event on which all christianity turns - the atoning death of Jesus Christ - when the lamb of god was provided as the substitute for the sins of the world.

In the same way, god often has more than just you in mind when he allows difficult seasons to move into your life. He also has an eye on your unbelieving peers and your doubting relatives. your testimony through tough times may be the way god has chosen to speak so that those around you will listen.

When You Think about it : Abraham loved god. but he also loved Isaac, the child of promise. This young lad had become the center of his life. Perhaps at this moment in his experience, if he were asked who he loved more - Isaac or god - it may have been difficult for him to answer.

Get the picture? God tested abraham in the most emotionalny sensitive area of his life. Was he willing to put the lord before isaac? was he willing to obey god rather than following his own desires?

today god often tess us in the sensitive areas of our lives. What is most important to us? Where does our security lie? We mustn't be supprised if we are suddenly confronted with a choice between our dearest possessions and the god we also love. It is in moments like these that we begin to understand how deep our love for God really is - or isn't.

A Quick Quote: "Satan tempts us that he may bring out all the evil that is in our hearts; God tries or tests us that He may bring out all the good. "

- F.B. Myere