November 25, 2022 - Genesis 22:1-2

“Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am. He said, “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.”” Genesis 22:1-2 NLT

Lord, the testing is never easy. You asked Abraham to sacrifice his son to you. You didn’t have him follow through but wanted to see if his heart was willing to give up his most prized possession. Isaac was the fulfillment of your promise to him, yet you wanted to see if you meant more to him than the promise. What a test. Lord, when we are tested, we want to come to you with the correct answer like Abraham. We want our trust and faith in you to overcome any uncertainty we might have. No matter what the world throws our way we want you to be the first thing we turn to. Grow our faith and trust in you strong. Grow our desire to follow you wherever you lead and obey your every request, regardless of what it will cost us. Lord, we know that growing in those things only happens when we are stretched. Growth often brings some pain and discomfort with it. Help us remember that when we are feeling those things. Help us press into it and see the growth, instead of running from it and missing the growth.

Abraham’s immediate response when you called his name was, “Here I am”. The word for “here am I” in Hebrew is “hineni”. Hineni means: “Here I am ready and waiting to do your will. Before you ask a thing, yes.” Wow. Lord, we want that to be our response every time you call our name. Even before we know your request, let our heart have this posture. Deepen our relationship and mold us until we are at the place to respond like that and truly mean it. For you are worthy of our “yes” to anything you ask. Lord, today, we say to you, “Hineni”.

In Jesus name, amen.