ABANDONMENT AND OBEDIENCE
TO GOD BRINGS BLESSING
By Dwight Cunkle
Fearing and Loving God I can put persons and things I love on the altar of the "God Who Provides"
Here is the exact quote that someone I referenced in my sermon on Sunday heard God impressing on her when she was trying to release her children into God's hands: He said, "I will be as gentle as possible and as firm as necessary."
It reminds me of Gen 22, where Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his only son whom he loves. In faith (trusting God) Abraham says, "The lad and I will worship then return." This is the first occurrence of the words worship and love in the Bible, and they come in the context of the only time God speaks of offering the firstborn as a whole burnt offering (except his own son). At the last moment while Abraham is obeying, Yahweh interrupts him, affirms his fear of the Lord, confirms him and his future generations in covenant blessing, and shows him a ram stuck in the thicket to be a substitutionary sacrifice instead of Isaac.
Abraham named that place, "The Lord Will Provide" (Yahweh Jireh). What would have happened if Abraham had not feared the Lord and trusted Yahweh enough to obey HIm? Is there anything or anyone we are clinging to or trying to protect from what may be God's will? Perhaps there are areas of blessing not seen yet, waiting for us to place what and/or whom we love on the altar before "The God Who Provides."
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