Abraham and Isaac: What's Your Isaac?
Abraham and Isaac: What’s Your Isaac?
“Then God said, “Take
your son to the land of Moriah and kill your son there as a sacrifice for me.
This must be Isaac, your only son, the one you love. Use him as a burnt
offering on one of the mountains there. I will tell you which mountain” “(Genesis
22:2, ERV).
As a Christian, I
have come to the understanding that God often works in ways we are unable to
understand, especially when uncomfortable situations occur, making us question
if He alone is really good. Yet despite
our circumstances, mishaps, highs, and lows, Jesus reminds us in Romans 8:28
that we can rest assured, for “God causes everything to work together for the
good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them”
(Romans 8:28, ERV).
Despite this
comfort, however, in the deepest inquires of my heart, I still ponder
calamities as they occur. In fact, I
question their existence in my life and begin to ask if I’m truly following His
will. Still, the story of Abraham and
Isaac in Genesis chapter 22 provide the answers we are looking for. Asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son
Isaac, Abraham’s story not only exemplifies tremendous faith but serves as a beautiful
example to us in our questionings when life doesn’t quite make sense.
Simply put, God
tested Abraham, but with no questions asked, Abraham took his son and the
materials needed to sacrifice him as a burnt offering on the mountain God had
called him to. Telling his servants that
he and the boy would worship and then be back, Abraham believed and knew that
God would provide amidst the unlikely scenario surrounding him. Laying Isaac on the altar, and raising his knife
to slay him, an Angel of the Lord calls out to Abraham, stopping the action and
later, blessing him with more blessings than he had before this encounter.
So, what does this
have to do with you and me, and why would the story of Abraham and Isaac reveal
the truth that sometimes, more often than not, God ceases to work in ways that
we question with more questions? Because
first, in order to provide, Christ is continually proving His faithfulness to
us as we learn to trust and rely on Him more and more. As Abraham was faithful to God, God was
faithful to Him. And secondly, Abraham
was willing to give it all, his most prized and precious gift from God just to
glorify Him.
Like a son or
daughter to inherit the throne of royalty, Isaac was the promise of God whom
Abraham’s descendants would prosper and multiply the earth. In Genesis 12,15, 21, and 22 God promises to
bless Abraham and make His descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
through His offspring. Yet when God
Himself asks Abraham to kill this same son, the one with whom all these
promises have been made, he questions nothing and fully submits to the will of
the Father at all costs.
These past weeks, in
particular, I too radically encountered Christ and pondered “What’s My
Isaac?” Thus, it is my prayer that such
a real and raw life example will encourage you to seek Him out the same in your
inquiries of sacrifice, love, turmoil, confusion, doubt, and trust.
[Intro]
Even when I feel like
I'm gonna break
I will lift my hands
to You
[Verse 1]
Open up, lift your
hands higher
I know it's hard
Give me back what I
have given
Trust my heart (You
can trust my heart)
I have loved him
before you have
Follow me
Slowly we will climb
together
I'm not leavin' you,
yeah- Isaac by Hollyn
Approaching the end
of my fifth fall semester at Ohio Christian University, busyness surrounded me
with final projects, dance performances, ministry opportunities, and friends
and family members knocking at my door with all sorts of problems. Amongst these stresses, though, Movements
from the Heart (MFTH), a dance group I founded at the college for my extreme
love and passion of dancing for Jesus, was proving to be the most difficult.
With less than four
days before our Chapel performance, and Festival of Carols (a prestigious
Christmas concert at our school) show week rapidly inching all the more
closely, I am confident that MFTH, the festival, and myself, in particular,
were enduring some serious spiritual attacks.
Receiving word that my partner wouldn’t be back in time to perform for
the Chapel performance, I was distraught.
Performing here had been my dream since freshman year and given the opportunity
to finally do so was a significant breakthrough for allowing dance in this type
of institution. Yet deep in my heart, I
knew it was unlikely I would get to dance without a partner, let alone almost
impossible to find someone to try and fill in as my partner in an entirely
partner-oriented dance. And in these
moments, I became angry, sad, and confused.
As a result, I questioned God why he would take something from me that
was literally my all, my everything, my life, but I was willing to sit out
while my team performed because I knew they could do it without me. Regardless of me dancing or not, I knew that
I created the group to bring glory to Him, and with or without my presence on
that stage at Chapel, Ohio Christian University was going to see MFTH dancing
and bringing joy to Him.
Trying to find any
feasible solution, however, my MFTH team was adamant that I was not sitting out
at the performance. From switching
partners to asking at least ten other people we could think of; the options were
not looking good. I refused to take any
of the other members’ partners because that profoundly convicted me, and I
cared more about the team praising Jesus than me getting to dance, but that
doesn’t mean it wasn’t painful for me to rest in that.
Still attempting to find
a solution, however, the team reached out to everyone we knew, even my
half-brother who has a reputation for drug abuse so that I could perform. And at first, this seemed hopeful. My brother went to the studio with us and was
receptive to learning the routine in four days, yet something looked off. He was having trouble catching on more than
usual and couldn’t focus. Long story
short, when I got back home with him, he told me he was on meth, pulled some
out of his pocket, and then flushed it down the toilet. That same brother is now in rehab getting
help as I am faithfully praying for him.
Mortified, shocked,
and embarrassed, I felt God prompt me to text a friend I lead worship with on
Sunday’s. Instead of questioning why I
would ask her for prayer, especially because we aren’t that close, however, I
poured out everything going on, and she began to pray for me. Coincidently, she then remarked that she
wished her boyfriend wasn’t so busy, who I had forgotten had a ton of dance experience. Replying with “do you think he might?”, she
asked him, and the next two days I prayed for God’s will.
That first night, I
knew that the option was unlikely, so I tried not to get my hopes up. Praying to God, pouring out my heart to Him,
reading the Scriptures, and truly surrendering all control, I reflected over
the events of that day. In the forefront
of my mind, an off comment made by one of my fellow dancers that morning at
practice stood out to me. Talking about
the song “Isaac” by Hollyn, I felt the Spirit leading me to listen to the
song. Pressing play on my Spotify, I
realized that I had heard the song before, but disliked it because I could
never understand the words. Yet in this
moment, something in me told me to look up the lyrics, and as I did, I couldn’t
help but praise God in my unbelief, questioning, and doubt. Quickly reading the story of Abraham and
Isaac, I realized that dance was my Isaac, but I was willing to give it all
away if it meant God’s glory shined through the midst of my sorrow.
The next morning,
Thanksgiving to be exact, I was again filled with questions as I awaited an
answer. Finally accepting that I
wouldn’t be dancing and had to be okay with that, I told God that, but also
told Him how hard it was for me.
Flipping on Isaac again to
comfort my heart, the following lines struck a chord in my questioning spirit:
[Pre-Chorus]
This is so important
No, don't rush what
I've started
See I am doing a new
thing, yeah, a new thing
[Chorus]
You're faithful to me,
I'm faithful to You
You loved me first, no
questions asked
You're faithful to me,
I'm faithful to You
'Cause You loved me
first, no questions asked- Isaac by Hollyn
A few hours later,
my friend’s boyfriend texted me back and agreed to learn the dance. That Sunday, the team taught him the entire
routine in a day, and we performed the next day as if he had been my partner
all along. With tears streaming down my
face and praising my Savior, I cried in joy, that even in my sorrow and
questioning, God was truly using every good and bad event for my
well-being. Quickly texting my friends
to let them know, I began to realize that if I hadn’t asked my brother to
perform, and he wouldn’t have been doing drugs, I never would have asked that
friend for prayer. And if I would never
have asked that friend for prayer, I would not have thought to ask her
boyfriend to be my partner. Likewise, if
my friend hadn’t mentioned the song Isaac in the car, I never would have
listened to it or read that story to comfort me in my prayer time with Jesus.
“I keep thinking of
Abraham and Isaac. You were willing to sit out for this performance, so God
blessed you in return for it and allowed you to dance anyway. Your faithfulness
and dedication to this team and more importantly to the Lord and your trust in
Him is just WOW…God really had a plan the whole time”- she remarked with
boldness, not knowing I had listened to the song or read the story. Continuing to weep in adoration of His grace,
I was immediately overwhelmed by both the presence and comfort of my Heavenly
Father holding me. Like Abraham about to
slay own son, I felt the Father whisper to me that when we are faithful to Him,
and truly willing to give it all, “Isaac
will be saved” (Hollyn).
This past weekend,
my original partner returned for the festival performance, and I can say with
certainty that the dance was a blessing to the people in attendance. Thus, it is in these moments that I sit back
in awe and wonder at the works God is continually doing in me. Crying as I reflect over His blessings, I
realize now that our greatest victories come from the most difficult challenges
and only a good and faithful Father could use a drug-infested, Satan-scheming,
and spiritually attacked situation and turn it into a beautiful artwork of His
redeeming promises to me.
“The angel of the Lord
called to Abraham from heaven a second time. The angel said, “You were ready to
kill your only son for me. Since you did this for me, I make you this promise:
I, the Lord, promise that I will surely bless you and give you as many
descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on
the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from
their enemies. Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your
descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me” “(Genesis 22:15-18, ERV).
Even when you feel
like you are going to break, remember, Isaac’s saved.