Sweet Isaac

Has your Isaac died?

In Christian circles, we have become very familiar with the idea of God’s blessings and promises being either ones we refer to as “an Ishmael” or “an Isaac.”

The idea is premised on chapters 15 and 16 of the book of Genesis, in the Old Testament. In chapter 15, God promises Abram that he will have offspring that will be so numerous as to compete with the numbering of the stars.

Then, we see in chapter 16 Sarai, Abram’s wife, becomes impatient in her discouragement of not having conceived. She decides to give her servant to Abram as a wife, that he may have offspring through her.

Long story short:
Her servant conceived.
His name was to be Ishmael.
And…
It didn’t go well.

I encourage you to go read those chapters, but the sum of it, as pertaining to the discussion of “an Ishmael” or “an Isaac,” is that “an Ishmael” has come to represent a promise of blessing that we muddle up with works.

God will bless the hands of His children. However, when we take things into our own hands rather than wait on the timing of God, we end up with less than stellar outcomes. They will never amount to the results we receive when we allow grace to be the foundation of our promises rather than letting works build that foundation.

Sidenote – Genesis chapter 17 is where Abram becomes Abraham, and Sarai becomes Sarah. In case you were wondering.

Also, if you were wondering, I have goats. Yep. That is a very random sentence to follow a discussion about Ishmael and Isaac.

There was a goat that I held very dear to my heart, and his name was Isaac. He was named Isaac because the circumstances surrounding His birth encouraged me strongly regarding “an Isaac” promise the Lord has given me.

No other moniker would have suited him, and he became a living, breathing representation of the promise I received from the Lord.

Earlier this year, during all of the heavy rainfall here in North Texas, the potion of our property that houses the goats sustained continual flooding and a subsequent parasite infestation from the stagnant water. Isaac has always been one of the weaker goats, and a week of intensive veterinary care was not effective in preserving his life.

I received the call on a Friday afternoon, and they were urging euthanasia. As I unsuccessfully fought back the tears, I was brought in my mind to Genesis chapter 22 when God decided to test Abraham and asked him to sacrifice Isaac.

In the Bible, Isaac never dies. I was sure a miracle was going to happen even after giving the dreaded “OK.” Somehow my Isaac was going to live, but he didn’t.

My sweet Isaac was laid to rest.

All my mind could entertain was, “What happens when your Isaac dies?” I was not prepared for this outcome. I mourned, i.e., ugly-cried, and grappled for understanding.

Then, I went back and read Genesis 22 to see if anything could answer my question of what to do when your Isaac dies.

There was nothing.

And it was in the nothing that I found my answer.

Abraham never seems to quiver at the request made for him to sacrifice Isaac. Why was that? If you read the preceding chapters in Genesis, you can gain insight into the depth of the relationship between Abraham and God.

Abraham wasn’t concerned about the request to sacrifice Isaac because he knew the God he served. All-powerful, all-knowing, and capable of keeping His promises no matter what the situation looked like in the natural. Remember the whole having a baby as a centenarian thing? That’s a great example.

Look at Abraham’s statements from Gen 22:8 NASV, “Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.”

Let me encourage you that even when it looks as if your Isaac promise has died, it hasn’t. We need to know the God we serve. He does not lie, and He is faithful. He already provided The Lamb, and our Isaac promises no longer need to be laid upon the altar.

We need to be so confident in our relationship with our Father that even if the last breath of hope is exhausted from our Isaac, we know our Father will revive it!

So yes, in the natural, my Isaac died, and he will be greatly missed.

But the truth is…

My Isaac lives!

And so does yours!

In the face of adversity, confusion, dashed hopes, and a multitude of questions, remember that our Father is for you. He loves you, and He loves fulfilling His promises.

Maybe we need to be willing to loosen our grip on Isaac and make sure our worship stays focused on The Father rather than His promises. He’ll handle the details. All we need to do is remember that all things have breath, and life, when they are yielded to Him.