The Whole Kit and Caboodle

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

Genesis 22:1–2, 6–14

Some time later God tested Abraham. he said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”. . .

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

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

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Abraham’s altar story is an incredible one. Here, at this space which was created to encounter God, Abraham was asked to surrender the very child the Lord had provided after decades of unanswered prayers. This may be the fear many of us have. If I commit my life to Him, what will God ask of me? If I promise to surrender, will He take everything I love away from me?

Putting ourselves in the story, I imagine that Abraham’s feet felt like lead weights as he walked toward the place where he would build an altar. I wonder, while on his way, did his eyes scour the path, looking for signs that God would intervene? Surely, God would not take my son away. If this altar scene were in a Hollywood production, the music score would build and the actor playing Abraham would slowly raise the knife with a dramatic pause as his arms reached their full height. There would be a tight cut away on Abraham’s face and then Isaac’s as the audience sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see how the climactic moment would end. And God does intervene. But not until Abraham shows that he is willing to surrender everything to the unknown future. You see, Isaac represented the future promises of his descendants. He represented the promise that God made to always be with him and to protect and provide a family. If Abraham surrendered Isaac, he was surrendering the assurance of his future.

At several pivotal moments in my faith journey, the Lord has stretched me, allowed me to suffer, and asked me to surrender my future. Each time He spoke the same words to me, “You have to let go of what you have to receive what I have for you.” The Lord knows that I have a hard time letting go with both hands. Sure, I can let go with one, but both is hard. Surrendering everything. It means completely letting go of the perceived control I have over my life. But control is an illusion. We believe if we hold on to control, we hold on to our future. But God calls us to lay our future into His hands through our faith.

God’s faithfulness and love for His children create a safe space to be vulnerable. This is a surrendered heart posture, to be open and vulnerable before the Lord who will not take everything away from us but provide our greatest need. I love that Abraham marked this sacred space where he encountered God. It was a pivotal moment in his faith journey where he surrendered his greatest possession and greatest fear to the Lord. He let go with both hands.

THE PRAYER 

Lord, help us to let go with both hands. We give up the idea that we are in control because we know that You have the best for us and we commit ourselves to You. Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

What moments of your life have you been afraid to surrender your future to God? What does the provision of God to Abraham teach you about God’s faithfulness in your own life?

For the Awakening,
Susan Kent 

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