Dwell – Day 10
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We can assume that everyone wants peace, yet when you look back over your prayer life, how often did you ask for it? If you stop and think about what peace would look like, what images come to mind? Most would envision “world peace” but according to God’s Word, that will not come about just yet. In the meantime, God wants us to live in peace, so what
does this actually look like? Here is a beautiful illustration of obtaining peace by a pastor in China, Watchman Nee, long ago….
He said: Sometimes as Christians, we pray to God and God answers our
prayers, He gives us good things. He gives us a good job, He gives us a good family, He gives us a good ministry, He gives us good health, He gives us an easy and comfortable life. We all have different blessings, and we have all these things and our hands are full. We are very happy God gives us health and family, and so on.
Then it comes a day when God says,
“Hey, give me your hand, I want to hold your hand.”
And then, that Christian says to God,
“God, I can’t give you my hand. My hands are full. I’ve so many blessings.”
“You’ve got to let go of some of them, my child. You’ve got to.”
“But God, these are good things.”
“I know.”
“These are things You have given to me.”
“Yes, I did.”
“So why do you want me to give it all up?”
“Because if you don’t, I can never hold your hand.”
You see, I can’t put my blessings down in order to grab ahold of God’s hand without having peace first. Peace in knowing that He takes care of everything, that He is in control, that He, alone, provides all good things!
Let’s take a moment to look at the story of Abraham and Isaac. You can find this account from Genesis 22.
Genesis 22:2
God said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
I completely understand that this passage would NOT bring about a sense of peace to any parent, but keep in mind that God had already promised Abraham that he would be a Father to many nations. God had already made that a promised blessing. God knows all things for all times. He doesn’t need to test Abraham for Him to know Abraham, He already knows. But this is to reveal what is in Abraham, to Abraham and to all those who
will read and know of Abraham. So God is saying, “Take your son”, not somebody else’s son, your son, “your only son”, whom you love.” We know the rest of the story and how Abraham followed with obedience. Before Abraham was getting ready to deliver the blow:
Genesis 22:11-12
the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” and he said, “Here I am.”… “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God and you have not withheld your son from me.”
Abraham is often referred to as the Father of Faith, and perhaps, rightly so. But, I can’t help but feel that Abraham acted also with a sense of peace. He may have had fifty million questions running through his mind while sleeping the night before, traveling to the land of Moriah the next day, laying the wood across the altar, and finally, placing Isaac upon it. I
believe Abraham rested in the peace that he knew about his God. His God had made a promise that all nations would be blessed through him. Abraham, again, knew his God; he may not have understand how the blessing would come about, but he had peace in knowing God would provide.
Genesis 22:17-18
“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your Offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
God never wanted Isaac as a sacrifice. God wanted Abraham’s devotion to him. You could say, God wanted Abraham to put his “Isaac” down for a moment so God could hold Abraham’s hand.
Our Father blesses us with many “Isaacs” in our lives. Because I spent most of my son’s early years as a single mother, it was hard to fill the void of the other parent figure. Many nights ended in tears wanting to be and provide everything for him. I learned the hard way that I cannot be all and do all for him. It wasn’t until recently that my Father laid upon my heart that it was time for me to turn my son back over to him. I could remember being that Christian standing there with my arms full, so full of blessings, and I didn’t know how to put all of my “Isaacs” down. I could sense my Father wanting me to refer to my son, Edward, as his Edward. Where once I would pray, “Father, please watch over my Edward and bring my Edward home safely from work.”….I now say, “Father, please watch over YOUR Edward, for I know and rest in perfect peace that YOU love him far more than me.
Sometimes, I catch myself getting ready to say, “my Edward”, but then I remember, this is God’s moment to “hold my hand”.
Isaiah 54:10
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant Of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Reflection Questions
1. What are your Isaacs and are you willing to give up your Isaacs?
2. Do you truly understand that God wants you to have the peace of knowing He is in control of everything that He has blessed you with, to the point of setting your blessings down so He can hold your hand?
Other Scriptures on Peace:
- Psalm 4:8, 29:11, 34:14, 37:37, 119:165
- Isaiah 26:3, 26:12, 54:10, 55:12
- Matthew 5:9
- John 14:27, 16:33
- Romans 8:6, 12:18, 15:13
- Philippians 4:7
- Colossians 3:15
- 2 Thessalonians 3:16
- Hebrews 12:14