Before my kids take a nap, I usually read at least 1 story to them. Sometimes it’s Curious George or Madeline. Sometimes it’s a few chapters out of Proverbs. Lately, I’ve been reading some stories out of this Bible story book. We’ve already gone through it a couple times for our evening devotions, so the stories aren’t new. But I’ve really enjoyed reading through them again.

Recently, I read “The Present” – which is the story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. If you haven’t heard this story, you can read it here. 

A couple sections from this story stood out to me:

“Put his boy on the altar and kill him as the sacrifice? How could God want him to do such a terrible thing? Abraham didn’t understand. But he knew that God was his father who loved him. And so Abraham trusted him.”

and again with Isaac:

“They built an altar and laid the wood on top. Abraham asked his son to climb on top of the wood. Isaac didn’t understand but he knew his father loved him. And so he trusted him.”

Do you see how their belief motivated their actions?
Abraham believed God. And so he obeyed even though he didn’t understand.

You don’t have to understand in order to obey. You don’t have to know how everything will turn out in the end before you take the first step. That’s what faith is. People who believe in Jesus don’t live for what they can see. They don’t make decisions because they see the final product. They live their lives based on what they can’t see.

Weird, right?

In a culture obsessed with the visible, God calls believers to be consumed with the invisible.

I don’t have to understand. I don’t have to be strapped to people’s opinions and my ever-changing emotions. Like Abraham, I can choose to obey based on who God is and what He has said.

Goodness. That’s who I want to be.
How about you?