Isaac's on the Altar

I just finished reading a great book called Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. My soul was just ripe for its message. At the conclusion of the book he writes that trusting God comes down to laying the Isaac in your life on God’s altar.

I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve had to do that recently and I got mad when there was no “ram in the bush” to take the place of my offering. I thought if I was obedient in my offering, God would relent at the last minute and reward my obedience by replacing what I had laid on the altar with something else. God didn’t. And what was so dear to me is gone.

I tried to explain to God that this isn’t how it’s supposed to work. There’s supposed to be a replacement. I really shouldn’t have to give this up. But here’s what I learned, God will do what will make you trust him more. If it’s supplying a ram in the bush, he will do it. If it’s allowing you to go through with the original sacrifice, he will allow it. That’s how God works. He always has the big picture in mind. He looks beyond our immediate pain to the good things that are down the road. The things we can’t see just yet.

That’s where trust comes in. We have to trust that God is good. There’s a lot of proof of that. Just look at God’s creation, or the miracles he’s worked, the good things he’s already done in our lives. Most importantly, look to the cross where Jesus endured incredible pain and loss so that we could have the good things God has in store for us.

In this process I’ve spent a lot of time shaking my fist at the sky asking God “Why?” And God replied to me much the same way he replied to Job. God reminded me of his great glory (see 12/28/05 entry) and his incomprehensible nature. Even if God were to answer my question, I do not have the capacity to understand it. My mind cannot begin to grasp the ways of God. And as one of my favorite preachers, Tim Keller, said – Is God someone you should treat as your assistant? In other words, I cannot ask God to be accountable to me. I am accountable to him and as such I have no grounds to ask the Creator of the Universe why part of my life didn’t work the way I wanted it to.

So, what is left is trust. Trust that God did the right thing and will continue to do so. Trust that God has better things in store for me. Because this is what he promised, to lead us, to be our Good Shepherd and supply all our needs.

© Michelle Scott 2006