I think it boils down to the fact that our God is a jealous God. He doesn’t want his gifts to replace him. He won’t withhold a good gift in its time, but he wants our focus and our obedience, whether or not we get what we want. In the case of Abraham, God made a covenant with him that required Isaac to live a long, good life. In a way, God showed Abraham his cards a bit, although I’m sure it didn’t feel that way at first.
When God asks something from us, we have our own past experiences to draw on. God has been faithful before, so he’ll be faithful again. The Lord doesn’t always give us what we want when we want it, however. The story of Job is a prime example. Job was faithful, but God allowed almost everything to be taken from Job for a time; eventually, God restored much more to him.
What if God simply wants an actual sacrifice from us, and we don’t get it back? We aren’t all Abraham or even Job. What if the Lord calls us to even lay down our lives? Well then, we get the best gift of all, we get the Lord himself. The Lord himself is what we need to thrive, making whatever we gave up seem less significant by comparison. So if you hear God calling you to lay something down, for his sake, count yourself very blessed. You’re about to see God do something awesome.
Jonathan Duncan
EFCC Member