Have you been brought to a place in your life that feels like a mountain and you know you just don’t have the courage to climb it?
Tested Faith
The thought of pressing onward leaves you with the realization that this process could leave you with pain, emptiness or eventually loss and that scares you. In the midst of this, there’s the feeling of disappointment for the possibility of the loss of something you have longed for or held onto for so long, only to feel like the LORD is ripping it away from your life. It’s the anxiety of not wanting to step onto the path for fear of being disappointed once again and feeling like your faith is sinking. What hope is there for a faith that’s being tested?
Take heart my sweet sister. Like me, you can find encouragement in Abrahams faith before his trek into his trial and testing ever begin. He has been called to take his son, his only son, and offer him as a sacrifice in worship to the LORD. Before he even faces the mountain, he has to rise to begin the journey.
Responding to testing in life
Surely Abraham could have ignored the calling. He could have started the faith-filled journey and then looked at the mountain in front of him and fled. He could have rejected the idea of a worship experience with God because the process required was too painful. I mean, this meant surrendering the only thing that mattered most too Abraham…a certainty for his future and a reason for his identity. That’s not what we see though. Instead of responding to God’s plan argumentatively or allowing bitterness and fear to take control, Abraham simply chooses to obey the One who has brought him to this mountain. Pay close attention to Abrahams response in this moment of testing in his life.
He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)
Coming down the mountain stronger
Did you notice that? The faith, that before it even ascends the mountain and endures the trial, believes that God will provide and bring them BOTH back down the mountain stronger than before? You see, Abraham knew one of two things that day. That either his God would provide for their needs on that mountain, or that whatever He required of them in that process, He would resurrect and bring back to life what was dead. Either way, he and his promised son were going up to worship, but they were coming back down fully alive!
How about you? Before you ever ascend the difficult mountain that calls you to worship, in spite of what you are required to sacrifice, are you speaking to those around you in confidence? Are you assured that if you journey up and just obey, that you will come through stronger and more alive on the other side?
Read also: Do not allow fear to paralyze you
