Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Todays devotion

His Vision, His Way, In His Timing
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
10-27-2009

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen 22:2).

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do almost anything to get it? Have you ever gotten so close to fulfilling a dream only to have it disappear right before your eyes? Such was the case for Abraham.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. He would have a son. However, Abraham panicked when Sarah aged beyond child bearing years and tried to help God by birthing Ishmael through Sarah's servant, who was not the promised son. Eventually, Isaac was born, who was the promised son.

However, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar to demonstrate his obedience to God. Truly, this is one of the hardest instructions given to one of God's people in all of scripture. It compares only to the Heavenly Father sacrificing His own Son. God intervenes and allows a ram to get caught in the bushes nearby, symbolizing the Lamb of God as a prophetic sign of what is to take place in the future.

God often births a vision in our lives only to allow it to die first before the purest version of the vision is manifested. This has happened several times in my own journey. Oswald Chambers observes, "God's method always seems to be vision first, and then reality, but in between the vision and the reality there is often a deep valley of humiliation. How often has a faithful soul been plunged into a like darkness when after the vision comes the test. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*

When God's vision is finally birthed, nothing will stop it. Our job is to allow God to birth His vision through us His way and in His timing.
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11 comments:

Unknown said...

Amen Amy!

Our hearts are once again aligned!

I believe this happened with my dance company. It is His plan for me but not the timing! I wait on Him to dance for HIM!

This has happened many times to us! I'll email you privately so you can see just how low of a valley He has us and how our trust in His perfect plan for us through it all!

I love you!
HUGS!
Jill

Salzwedel Family said...

This story of Abraham has been coming up a lot for me lately. I've been wondering what God is trying to tell me through it. This devotional really spoke to me today...thanks for sharing!

Dardi said...

Thank you, sweet friend, for sharing this devotion today. How difficult it can be to see the line between positioning ourselves for God's vision & trying to make the vision happen...especially for those of us that are "doers" & planners.

This journey of adoption for us started a full 3 years ago & I would have never dreamt that it would be where we are today, but it is a beautiful place to be, even though it was rough getting here! Love & Hugs ~ Dardi

Beautiful Mess said...

Oh my word! This encouraged me and I feel a warmth of God's Spirit at this moment!

Praying for His timing!

Thank you for your faithfulness and example.

God bless!

Jen

Shonni said...

Wow, this definitely is something that has happened in my life. Thank you for sharing this!

Ann said...

Thank you for sharing this today. I have definitely wondered why the vision has not come to reality as of yet. I try to make it happen on my own. I know I must wait on the Lord, it is hard! Thank you for these words of wisdom. I need to let God be sovereign and allow our family to be blessed in HIS time, not my own. God is good all the time, all the time, God is good. Ann

BrandiB said...

Perfect timing to share this and God's timing is perfect. It's so hard to remember that when you are **patiently** waiting for what you feel you need.

Stacy said...

God often births a vision in our lives only to allow it to die first before the purest version of the vision is manifested....

This is so true.....

Karin said...

Ohhh...I love this. It is so true. God has done that in my life and I think it's often so that I do not try to take credit for what HE is doing.

trustandobey said...

Amy,
This is so true and so good. I have a friend that needs to read this right now. Thank you for posting this.
Lisa

Sara said...

This is where we are, too. Waiting for God to fulfill his purpose for our family.