Obedience Through Faith - Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

I can only imagine what it must have been like for Abraham when he had received the command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. I don't know what kind of agony he endured between receiving the command and carrying it out. But he must have had a terrible time understanding God's reasons for making the command. After all, Isaac was his heir through whom he was promised numberless posterity. We also know that Isaac was a good and faithful son, who assisted his father in carrying out the command to take his own life. The 100+ year-old Abraham would never have been able to bind and sacrifice him without his submission.

He must have had sleepless and tear-filled nights. But the miraculous part about Abraham is that he carried out the command without faltering. No matter how terrible and illogical the command seemed, Abraham trusted God completely. When most of us would have schemed up some other plan, Abraham simply trusted in the plan he was given.

I can't imagine how he must have felt raising the knife, knowing that he would never see his beloved son again in this life; but the joy he felt when the angel descended to tell him that it was a test must have been exquisite. To pass such a test from God is a testimony of the greatness of Abraham. Such faith is the envy of every man of God.

The lesson to learn here is to never second-guess a commandment from God, no matter how illogical it may seem. Obedience is the first law of heaven. Never let your ego get so big as to believe that your way is better than His way. To the faithful is always given the understanding of why the commandment is given, but to the disobedient there is only darkness; and they may never know what their joy or reward would have been for obedience.

In my own life, I have received instruction from Him which was hard to accept, but when I followed in obedience, no matter how illogical the command, I have always been blessed with joy to understand the consequences had I chosen another path. Not to say that I always make the right choice - because it isn't easy - but I can attest that when we do, the blessings are sublime.