“But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7 NKJV)
Nothing is said about the emotional trauma that Abraham was going through at this very low point in his life particularly when Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb for the offering?” We know there is no real answer to Isaac’s question until
centuries later when John the Baptist standing before the people of Israel saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Where did this man find the strength to carry through this unpleasant task?Where did he find the peace to follow God’s command? Genesis 22:5 gives an insight as to the Abraham source of strength: “Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'” Abraham is not trying to be deceptive, but somewhere within him, there is the consciousness that God who had said Isaac is the heir, will do something to save the day. In the struggles of that night, in meditation, he probably began to reason that”God has given me promises, and I have lived with God long enough to know that when God gives a promise, He carries it through. God has said that in Isaac all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Isaac is the answer to the fulfilment of the promise, it can’t be any other. If God has asked me now to offer him up as a sacrifice, there is only one explanation. God intends to raise him from the dead.”
So firm is his faith in the character of God that he believes in the resurrection. This is confirmed in Hebrews 11: “By faith Abraham offered Isaac. . . Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead…” (Hebrews 11:17,19). Abraham risked everything he had and trusted on the character of God.. Because of this wonderful triumph in his life, Abraham calls this place, “God will provide”
When we are in the lowest of our life, let’s learn to trust in God that provides. God’s ways with us are such that when it seems as though deliverance will never come and we do not doubt His integrity nor compromise our faith in Him, His intervention will surface. People’s disappointments are God’s appointments. It is never too late for God. Even if Abraham had been required to carry the slaughtering of Isaac to its end, his heart was quiet in restful peace because he knew God of resurrection. Regardless of what He calls you to lay on the altar in obedience to Him, remember He always know what is best, and He always have a plan that is good and perfect for you.