The second in our series on the nine lessons for Christmas is Genesis 22:15-18.
Can you imagine. Abraham had been promised a child. But he had to wait a long time. Way beyond the circumstances in which you might think it possible to have a child, stretching his and Sarah's faith to the very limit. And after all the waiting, finally, Isaac.
And then God asks Abraham to sacrifice him. What kind of sick world, Abraham must have thought, do we live in, that I wait a lifetime for a child, only for him to be taken from me.
Dark times indeed.
But Isaiah 45:5 says:
I will give you the treasures of darkness,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
And so it was with Abraham. This wasn't a gamble on Gods part, He sees all things, including the whole of Abraham's life from start to finish.
But it did teach Abraham an important lesson. That God can be trusted even in the most terrible times and that out of what might seem the darkest moment of our lives - treasure can be found. In Abraham's case, his blessing was also ours as through his line, Jesus came:
Jesus was born, as many babies are, in the night. He was born into obscurity, made a refugee soon after his birth. To save us, he suffered willingly the darkest of nights: the cross - and through it we have gained great riches.
Grace is a treasure of darkness.
As we begin to look forward to celebrating Jesus' birthday, you may be dealing with great darkness. There may be things in your life that are hard to bear. Or perhaps you are waiting for something. Longing for change.
Just remember:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)
But more on that next week.
To think about:
God announced the coming Light with angels. Who or what are Gods messengers to you?
How have you seen God's treasures coming out of darkness in the past?
What are you waiting for or struggling with right now? It might be the smallest of things, but why not spend some time now talking to Jesus about it.
2 comments:
Hmmmm; very interesting indeed. I put it to you; did God create these little catch 22's to create controversy, or is it the way our free will has interpreted them?
I think everything has to be viewed in the light of relationship - ie the one we have with God and how that pans out. Perhaps there would be less controversy if we were better at listening to God first rather than our own desires?
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