Stewards Not Owners
“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your only son from me.”
I’ve always been captivated by Abraham’s story. It’s one of heartbreak, suffering, promises and deliverance. So much happens between Genesis chapters 12-23 where the story unfolds. I couldn’t possibly share every part of this story in a short blog, but I want to share with you the lesson that God so clearly revealed to me this morning as I was reading through the word and drinking my coffee.
A large part of Abraham's story is when God promises him and his wife a child. The biggest surprise of it all is God said that it wouldn’t come to fruition until Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah 99. But God persisted, “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him’” (Genesis 19:19). Later on this did happen and in chapter 21 The Lord visited Sarah as he promised and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time in which God had spoken (19:1-2).
Fast forward to years later when God called Abraham to take Isaac and use him as a sacrifice. Yup, you read that right. God tested him by asking him to burn his own child, Isaac as an offering to the Lord. Abrahm did just as God told him, but as he went to set fire to the offering, an angel of the Lord cried out and stopped him. “Do not lay your hand on the boy, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” A ram came around the corner as the offering.
It’s a wild story and I know most of us can’t imagine going to such great lengths today. But what struck me this morning was Abraham's obedience in taking Isaac on the journey to the mountain to give him as a sacrifice all the while not knowing that God would provide a ram. Because if we go back we recall that God is the one who gave Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in the first place. Abraham knew that he was a steward of his son and not an owner.
So many times in my life I claim ownership of what God gives me. My time, my relationships, my career. The reality is when I dedicated my life to Christ it became his, it’s always been his. So when I try to intervene and take matters in my own hands I am acting as the owner and not the steward. If it wasn’t evident already, I am not God so why am I playing God in so many areas?
When you feel led to lay something down at God’s feet, just remember you were never an owner of it. I don’t think taking Isaac to the mountain as a sacrifice was easy for Abraham, but God never told us obedience to him was going to be easy. As followers of Christ it is part of our job to give God what belongs to God. So, what are you gripping too tight in this season?