Ever since I was a little girl, I have had dreams and plans that God has put in my heart. Some of them were your standard little girl dreams – getting married, having a family and owning a dog. Others were bigger and grander. As seasons of my life change, the Lord continually instills new dreams in my heart – dreams that I have and will obediently run after. In fact, God has deposited dreams and desires inside all of us. You have heard me say many times that God has a purpose and a plan for each of us. And, there is nothing more fulfilling than achieving these plans, knowing that we are fulfilling our purpose here on Earth.
But sometimes, right when you feel like you’ve figured everything out, God can throw a curve ball in your life. He can add a detour to the path that He started you on. As uneasy as this can feel, God will sometimes ask us if we are willing to lay down the very thing He had us chase.
Lay it down? Why? Why would God ask us to do such a thing? Why would He have us spend all this time and effort chasing things that He ultimately would have us let go of? It all comes down to trust, a lesson that Abraham knew all too well.
Abraham and Sarah desperately wanted a child, but Sarah was barren. Abraham could not understand how the amazing promise God gave him could come to be. God clearly promised Abraham that he would have son, and through this son, a mighty nation would be formed.
“Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “so shall your offspring be.” – Genesis 15:5
And just as God promised, at the age of 90, Sarah bore Abraham a son, and she named him Isaac just as God had instructed. To many, you would think this was the end of the story, but what happens next is what always intrigued me. The Lord asks Abraham to bring this long awaited child to the region of Moriah and lay him down at the altar as a sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord asked Abraham to lay down the very thing he had been waiting for – the fulfillment of his promise – something he waited decades for. Why would God ask Abraham to do something like this? Why would God want him to lay his fulfilled promise down? To test his faith, that’s why. God wanted to see if Abraham was able to trust Him even when it didn’t make sense in the natural.
Mercifully, God supplied another sacrifice and stopped Abraham from harming Isaac. Let me make it clear, it was never God’s intention for Abraham to see this through. This is not God’s nature.
Ladies, sometimes God is going to ask us to lay things down – dreams, jobs, material things, and even ministries. Often, He is just checking to see if we will be obedient, and other times, He will ask us to see it through.
Are you willing to lay your dreams down? Are you willing to let go of the very thing you spent years pursuing to obey the Lord? Will you trust that God has something better in store, or out of fear and control will you hang on to a dream that God no longer has for you? I know this can be a daunting task, but, if God is asking, I promise you that greater things are ahead.
