When I Lay My Isaac Down

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.

                                                  –Genesis 9:22 AMP 

Everyone has an Isaac. Whether we are always aware of it or not, each and everyone of us has a certain something or someone so cherished, so prized, so dearly treasured we cling to it as life water. A job or career, a child or life partner, perhaps even a dream or a vision you feel certain is to be birthed. And if you’re familiar at all with the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, you know Isaac was a child of promise in the old age of his parents. Isaac was to be the leader of the children of Israel, a lineage that would one day testify to the life and ministry of Christ Himself. Isaac was not only a promise revealed; he was cherished, treasured, loved beyond measure, and dearly, dearly prized.

And then…Abraham was called…to lay his Isaac down.

Genesis 22 tells us, “God said, “Take now your son, your only son [of [a]promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of [b]Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (v.2) No doubt Abraham was left with some burning questions and thoughts: “I don’t understand, Lord? This is the child You promised to me in my old age, a leader of nations. Why give him to me only to take him back?” My finite mind tells me Abraham felt confusion, sadness, possibly mixed with a touch of anger. I can with no level of uncertainty admit I would have.

However in verse 3 we read… “So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then he got up and went to the place of which God had told him.” He was obedient in the midst of his grief and sadness. He was faithful and trustworthy though his heart was breaking. He had no idea what the outcome was going to be. But one thing he was certain of was …”God will provide…” (v. 8a). Holding to this, as he lay his Isaac on the altar and raised the sacrificial blade, God stopped him in his tracks. ..“Abraham, Abraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” 1 The Lord said, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].” (vv.11b-12) 

Wow!

If I can be painfully real for a moment I am slowly coming to terms with having to lay down my own child, my own Isaac. A series of unfortunate events, temptations speaking over reason, and poor choices have left my adult child out of a job and on the wrong side of the laws of God and man. Paperwork…prints…financial repercussions…unflattering photographs…appearances before officials…these are the stones of the altar on which I have had to place him. My heart is breaking. There are days, hours, sometimes even moments when it is all I can do to breathe and I fight the tears more than I care to admit. At times the grief wraps me up like a robe and slippers dipped in cement. I am fearful of what I don’t know is going to happen. I am fearful of where this path is going to lead. I worry…I dread…and I am reminded of yet another promise in Jeremiah 29:11–“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.”

I don’t know what the outcome of this journey is going to be. God does. I have no clue where this path is taking my son or me for that matter. God does. I could not begin to tell any of you what His plans, His thoughts, and His purposes are in this. I can tell you He loved my son before I did. My son was His first before being lent to me. I have yet to see the future. God is already there. As I lay my Isaac down, though I don’t understand, though I cannot see what is ahead, though my heart still aches from the pain of it all, I can know and I can trust that just as Abraham answered his son when asked where the lamb was for sacrifice, I too will hear “I will provide.”

Where are you on this journey? Is there something, someone you are being asked to lay down?

Devotional Time

Take a moment now to read and reflect on Genesis 22 and Jeremiah 29:11. Are you being asked to lay your Isaac down? Let God reveal Himself to you through these passages. Record your thoughts, reflections, along with any answers you may receive in your journal (if you keep one).