Gtcotr/ss111812a
When
I think of someone who had vision beyond the moment, I am drawn to
Abraham. Specifically the moment when he
was asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Let’s look at that passage in:
Genesis 22 (NKJV)
Allow
me to catch us up on the story: This is after Abraham had prayed, believed God
and had waited for the miracle of Sarah getting pregnant for over 25
years. Abraham has his promised son from
his true love, Sarah. Isaac is the
promised son through whom God will bless all of Abraham’s descendants. Just as
everything seems to be going ok …
1 ¶ Now it came to pass after
these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And
he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take
now 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."
3 ¶ So Abraham rose early in
the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and
Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went
to the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day
Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said to his
young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and
worship, and we will come back to you."
6 So Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in
his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham
his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my
son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is
the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 And Abraham said, "My
son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the
two of them went together.
The
story continues with Abraham building an altar, placing the wood in its place,
binding Isaac, and laying him on the altar. Just as Abraham was ready to slay
his son, an angel of God interrupted him.
Genesis 22
11 ¶ But the Angel of the
LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he
said, "Here I am."
12 And He said, "Do not
lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear
God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13 Then Abraham lifted his
eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by
its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt
offering instead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the
name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day,
"In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided."
How
in the world was Abraham able to go that far without complaint? What possessed
him with the courage to trust God in this moment? Abraham evidently saw beyond
his moment. We often call that a vision.
In
the New Testament tells us more about this moment.
Hebrews 11
17 By faith Abraham, when he
was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act
of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said,
“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was
able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did
receive him back.
Abraham
considered the future and saw beyond his moment – and what he saw didn’t worry
him, because he saw God bigger than his moment.
Jesus
also saw beyond His moment. He is our
example.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus
simply looked beyond the moment and saw God was still there.
Many
times we must look through the fog of our moment and see God both with us and
on the other side, waiting for us to come through.
Life
is a process and God is the only One Who knows how this thing works. Life is
more than our moment and God is greater than our moment – in fact – God is our
life! … to know God is to know that:
2 Corinthians 4
17 Our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory,
18 while we do not look
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the
things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
Often
we must close our eyes and open our heart to the faith which can only come from
knowing God. Often we must trust in a vision beyond our moment.
Three
Elements Of A Vision
1. The Burden Of A Vision
The
burden of seeing beyond your moment is that it enjoins us to trust God - even
so often when others cannot yet see and will not yet go without complaint. Such was the case with Moses and the children
of Israel.
2. The Benefit Of A Vision
The
benefit of seeing beyond your moment is that it gives you faith to trust God
like Joshua and Caleb who had faith that God would cause their enemies to
fall. When others hearts fail them,
yours is strong. You understand their
fear but you do not share in it.
3. The Blessing Of A Vision
The
blessing of seeing beyond your moment is that afterward everyone else will see
then what perhaps few can see now.
Genesis 22
15 ¶ Then the Angel of the
LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: "By Myself
I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son —
17 "blessing I will
bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the
heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants
shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 "In your seed all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
So
much may depend on you seeing beyond your moment and enduring this moment while
you continue to trust God. When you get to the other side, God will still be
there and His love, kindness, mercy and justice will then be evident.
This
morning I would like to pray for those of you who may be facing a moment of
which you had rather not face.
I
want to pray for you to have vision beyond your moment and to catch a spiritual
glimpse of God on the other side of this problem.
How
can you make sure it is God’s vision and not just wishful thinking. Test it
against:
*
God’s revealed word
*
God’s known will
*
God’s continuing way
Then: Open your heart to God and let Him guide you
through the fog to catch a glimpse of God’s blessing waiting just on the other
side of your obedience.
Instead
of focusing on the problem, focus rather on the goodness and the grace of God
and let Him give you a ‘vision beyond your moment‘.
