Many of us are currently honoring a beautiful season called Lent. I love this season not only because it allows me to fondly reminisce my Catholic upbringing, but also because it helps me fix my priorities. It reminds me to keep God first so I can live the life He wants me to. It helps me remember that His supply will always be greater than my strength.
This is something we all need reminded of. Even the father of our faith, Abraham, needed the reminder. In Genesis 22, God tested his obedience by asking him for a sacrifice. And God asked for something much more than the potato chips I used to give up every year! He asked for Abraham’s promised son—Isaac.
You might know the story. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, prayed for Isaac for a long time. They grew weary, but they kept their faith and received their promise. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was 90, making the birth an absolute miracle.
God wanted to remind Abraham that this miracle didn’t happen because of his strength, but because of his obedience. He also wanted to remind Abraham that to continue to live in blessing, he would have to continue to obey faithfully.
Thankfully, Abraham obeyed. Although God’s request was only a test, and Isaac was not actually the required sacrificed that day, Abraham’s obedience to the Lord teaches us three vital lessons.
First, it shows us that obedience always starts with sacrifice. For Abraham, it was his most prized promise—Isaac. For you, it will be something else—something God has asked you to set aside out of obedience to Him.
Second, Abraham’s obedience shows that obeying God is not a onetime thing. It’s a process. In Genesis 22:3-8, we find Abraham obeyed God’s initial instruction to travel to a mountain to sacrifice Isaac, but that’s all he knew to do. He had no further instruction. He had to follow step-by-step, trusting that God would provide. It’s the same with our journey! To experience God’s supply, we must trust His path and provision, following His leading step-by-step, even when it makes no sense to us.
The third lesson Abraham’s obedience teaches us is that obeying God leads to a blessing that is supernaturally supplied. We can’t work for it; we can’t earn it. It’s God-given. Abraham’s sacrifice story ends with a twist. After he had fully obeyed, in the nick of time, God stopped him from killing Isaac and supernaturally provided a ram for the sacrifice instead. Abraham’s obedience led to God’s supernatural supply, not just in this moment, but for the rest of his life.
This is the obedience we’re called to. And it’s the obedience God rewards. If we’ll embrace it, we’ll receive the promise Paul made to the Philippians in Philippians 4:19—“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus!”
