Jump Start # 3424

Genesis 22:12 “He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

The story of Abraham is filled with challenges. He was called by God to leave his home and travel to a place he only had to trust God in. As an old man, he and his wife became parents. Then, as this chapter reveals, God told Abraham to sacrifice that child. The thought of killing one of our children is beyond all thoughts for us. Worse, he was to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. That meant, slicing his throat while he was alive. Collecting the blood. Then cutting Isaac into pieces and burning him upon the altar. That thought makes us shudder.

Running through this is a mighty lesson for us about challenges. Life is best described as not a smooth ride down a river with a few rocks and ripples now and then. Instead, it’s a white water ride with an occasional calm spot. We hold on and try to get through each challenge.

There are three myths of challenges that we must come to understand. When we don’t, we get upset and overcome by these things.

First, we assume that as we get older, things will get easier. That often isn’t the case.

Second, we assume as we get older, that we will have more time. This is how many envision retirement, a perpetual vacation. When I talk to retirees, the common thing they tell me is that there simply isn’t enough time in a day to get things done.

Third, as we get older, we think the challenges of our faith will subside. Maybe we think that Satan will leave us alone because we are too old to fool with. But that’s not the case. Up one side of the mountain or down the other side, there are challenges to our faith. One might move past youthful lusts, but there remains temptations that older disciples face. Many of those are our attitudes. Grumpy and gossipy is not a right of passage because you are old.

As we think about the Abraham story, there are three lessons we need to learn.

First, your greatest challenge may still be ahead of you. That may be hard to believe, but it is very likely. Fighting those youthful lusts, beginning a marriage, building a career all present unique challenges. Little kids running around the house, then teens, then grown adults, each phase brings blessings and challenges.

One of my favorite things to do is have supper with my wife on our back deck. There is a large woods behind our house. Birds, squirrels, deer and the sounds of the wind just bring a peaceful calming effect to both of us. The other night as we were sitting there, talking and enjoying the view, she said, “It’s going to be hard when one of us leaves first.” She was talking about death. And as most young couples, we said at our wedding, “Until death do us part” but you don’t think about that when you are in your twenties.

Indeed, the greatest challenges may still be ahead of us.

Second, your greatest challenge is met my the hundreds of earlier challenges you have already faced. Abraham didn’t start off with offering Isaac. He left his homeland. He became a parent at an old age. Challenge after challenge, prepared him for greater challenges. And, so it is for us. There has been car accidents in which we raced to the hospital with prayers on our lips. There has been surgeries where we waited anxiously for the outcome. There has been the death of dear friends and parents. Each of those challenges were met with faith, trust and hope. Each prepared us for the next challenge.

Third, your greatest challenge is something that you can win through Jesus Christ. Alone, these challenges will crush us, destroy us and ruin us. But with God, you can handle anything the world throws at you. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. The first “He”, the one that is in us, is God. The other “he,” is not God. It’s the devil. It’s the deceivers. It’s the world. Fortified cities, tall giants, stormy nights, prison doors shut tight, fearful times and anxious moments for God’s people, but God was with them. And, the Lord will be with us. And, when we take that last breath here, it is our faith in the Lord that will allow us to open our eyes on the other side and see Him.

God said to Abraham, “Now I know”. It’s conquering these challenges that we know. We know that God is with us. We know that prayer works. We know that fellowship is powerful. We know. And, it often takes a challenge before we know that.

Roger