In Genesis 22, God calls Abraham to sacrifice that which was most precious to him not only from an earthly standpoint, but from a spiritual standpoint too, as Issac was ‘the son of promise’, that God Himself gave to Abraham. With the passage of time, God’s magnificent promises can tend to become something that we idolize and once we begin to enjoy the same, we can tend to forget God. This cuts us out from Our source, who Himself is the Giver of every good and perfect gift and is a dangerous path to go along.

So, God, on seeing this possible development in Abraham’s life, intervenes and asks Abraham to offer up his son on the altar of sacrifice. Indeed, God called and blessed Abraham, because Abraham obeyed God, but in order for Abraham to become a blessing to many, God had to break Him by testing him, and so God asked him to give up that which he cherished the most!

Similarly, we see that in the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus willingly gave up His will and consented to sacrifice His fellowship with the Father while on the Cross, (the thing which He cherished the most), He became the source of eternal blessing to all mankind. When Abraham passed this test, God tells him that He will not only have numerous descendants, but that those descendants would take possession of the strongholds of their enemies, Genesis 22:17! This is the exact blessing that Rebekah was blessed with when she left those who were dear to her to marry her husband Issac, in line with God’s perfect plan, Genesis 24:57-60.

Thus, we see that just having numerous descendants who are powerless over the enemy, is of no consequence when compared to those descendants being able to possess the enemy’s strongholds! So, becoming a blessing to others involves sacrifice, but this sacrifice is a blessing in disguise as it empowers us to take possession of the enemy’s strongholds!

As we make this decision to give up those of God’s blessings that have now become our cherished possessions, but which hinder is from moving into greater intimacy and fellowship with God, we will find that out of this surrender come the power to possess the strongholds of our enemies and become an even greater blessing to many, while God also looks after all our needs and faithfully provides for the burial of our loved ones and the marriages of our children, in due season and in the most beautiful way, Genesis 23 and Genesis 24!

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.