Is it Well with Your Soul?

 

Genesis 22-23     Psalm 84             John 7

When we look at the Bible as a whole there is no doubt one of the most challenging passages is the story of Abraham and Isaac after God instructs Abraham to take Isaac to the mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. As we read this story, we have to remember that Isaac is the only hope, in the eyes of Abraham and his family, for God’s promise to make his descendants the inheritors of the promised land. We cannot forget how many times Abraham and Sarah have lost that trust they had in God and tried their own way. The question is has Abraham learned his lesson.

 As I read this story, I thought about the fact that if Abraham had not been willing to do as God asked even though he couldn’t see how it could work out or refused to do what was ask of him, the story would have ended there, and we would not be reading it today. God demands absolute trust if we want the full blessing that is offered.

 The hardest decisions we will make in life will be to trust God when we feel we can’t trust someone or something else, even though we can’t see how God’s promise can be fulfilled. This story cannot be taken out of the context of what comes before it and the long-term impacts of failing to trust God is at work, often is ways we can’t see. Look back at the damage done not only to that generation but the ones yet to come. That includes the incredible divisions between tribes around the world that were formed in that story.

 Don’t miss that this finally putting his trust in God came with a cost yet to unfold in the story ahead. The only thing we see with Sarah is Abraham going to morn her death and provide for her burial in chapter 23.  It would also be the foundation to understand the cross and what God did on that occasion.

 Today Psalm 84 reminds me that when we put our trust in God and follow his ways it is often costly in human relationships. But, a day of seeking the Lord in his presence is worth a thousand outside. No good is held from those who walk uprightly in the end when we put our trust in the Lord

 John 7 is a story of contrasts between human expectations and God’s way of working in the world. Jesus own brothers demanded that he do what everyone expected should be done, a public proclamation of who he was. Jesus was in Galilee because declaring God’s way had created hate from those that thought they best understood what God demanded. There is a time for looking for attention and there is a time for quietly working in the background making a difference where the Word of God can and will be heard.

 Note that he is being sought out both by those that wish to destroy him and by those that wish to learn or experience God’s blessing by being with him. There are also many who are undecided and looking for who to believe. Jesus reminds them that his teaching is from the one that sent him, the father. The one that speaks the true word is not seeking glory for themselves but pointing to God as the one that deserves the glory.

 It is interesting to look at the conflict as the people struggle to decide whether to judge by human standards or faith in God. Shows us that struggle is nothing new. The challenge to judge not by appearance but by how it measures up to the ways of God is real and difficult because it often means we find ourselves in conflict with what we want to believe.

 When we put our full and complete faith in Jesus there is a river of living water that flows from our innermost being and it is well with our soul. Then, when we face the divisions and conflicts that Jesus promised we would face, not something we often think about, we are prepared to stand strong.

 Is it well with your soul today? From where does your spirit get fed?