Ever feel like you are called to something you don’t understand, have to many questions about and are just not sure why you are there to begin with?
You are in pretty good company. Most of us have lived through a time that only later did we see the greater good in what we were doing. However, at the time our job/calling seems a bit silly. Consider Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. This is another great example of OT craziness. Here is a point form recap for those of you who don’t quite have it memorized yet.
– God promises Abraham and Sara a child
– Said child does not come fast enough (100 years in) so Abraham has sex with his servant Hagar and has a son named Ishmael. To Abe this was a thought out idea for the promise to be fulfilled
– God confirms again that a son will come from Sarah … awkward moment for everyone
– Hagar and Ishmael get send away and Ishmael takes up archery
– Isaac is born to a very old Abraham and Sara
– God tells a 100+ year old Abraham to go and kill his son on a wood pile (go and kill your dream & your legacy)
That pretty much catches you up to where you need to be. Genesis 22… So we are on the journey to the place of the would be execution. Isaac is now carrying his own wood pile. During the journey he asks his father where the lamb for the sacrifice is. Abraham only responds with the knowledge he has. That knowledge is simple… God will provide the sacrifice. It reminds me of Christ having to carry his cross and asking us to do the same.
Meanwhile, the stack of lumber must be getting heavy, the same stack that will become the place of his death. Isaac had no idea the true purpose of the stack of lumber, he had no idea that he was supposed to be the sacrifice, and he had no idea that his life was being used as a test of faith. Isaac was literally carrying his own cross to his own execution and had no idea. What if God didn’t supply the sacrifice? Do you think Isaac would have kept going, especially after doing the math on who the sacrifice would be? Or do you think he trusted God and his father enough to keep following?
This story parallels to both us and to the life of Christ. Jesus literally carried his own wood pile in the shape of a cross. John 3:16 teaches us that God gave his only son, so that we didn’t have to. God took the pain of sin on his own sacrifice, so that we didn’t have to deal with that anymore. We would no longer need to live out a life of extreme sacrifice but now we would walk out a life of obedience through the actions of Christ.
Your wood pile is quite similar. It might not be a literal wood pile but it might be something you didn’t see yourself doing in this season of life. Maybe you just want to be the multi millionaire without the long hard hours getting there. Maybe you want to be the world famous pastor of a mega church but don’t want to do the work on your character and put your time in with God. Where ever you are in life, consider that to be where you are called to right now! That is your wood pile, carry it well. Make the most out of this season. Keep focussed on what God is asking you to carry now and wonder where the promotion is going to take you. Before you know it, you will see your wood pile turn into a cross. Remember a cross is a symbol or salvation for humanity! Our wood piles and lives should always turn into crosses for someone else.
Lets look at Abraham, he had his dream fulfilled and was still willing to give it back to God at a moments notice! He turned that wood pile into a cross by being faithful and became the father of Isaac, then grandfather to Jacob, then the nation of Israel… then his line led to Christ himself! Pretty good legacy I would say.
Lets go back to Isaac, honoured his father to the point of lunacy. He was literally strapped to a wood pile with a knife being held above his chest. He turned this wood pile into a wealth so great in the water industry that people told him he was too blessed by God.
Don’t give up on the wood pile! Make it into a cross for someone else.
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