Then He said, “Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
Genesis 22:2, LSB
It is hard to believe that God would ask Abraham or any of us to sacrifice a child. At the time of Abraham, this was not an uncommon practice of other religions and cults, but it was contrary to the nature of God. Abraham was willing to follow but was listening to God throughout and not just caught up in a fervor. We know that God offered an alternative with the ram caught in the thicket. What we find is the faith of not only Abraham but also Isaac. God wants us to be willing to set aside all things over to Him and to trust Him with everything. God was showing us His mercy in this action but also pointing us to what He would do as a Father for us in the willing sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. In our faith, God will take us on journeys away from false beliefs and ideals to lead us to Himself. It is in our struggles that we give ourselves over to God. We will find His hands at work and may see His face in those who offer us help in those times. When we let go and let God, we can lay down all our grief and struggle and enter fully into His peace.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.