We do not know all of the thoughts that raced through the mind of Abraham as he journeyed with Isaac and two of his servants on the way to the land of Moriah. There he would truly be tested. Was he submitted so fully to his God, that he’d sacrifice to Him the son of his love? The journey to Moriah would be at least two days long. During that time, did every one of Abraham’s thoughts have to do with faith? Was there none of doubt, fear, or suspicion? It is however evident, that by the time Abraham left his servants and started for the mountain, that he was fully convinced of Isaac’s safe return with him.
In my heart I believe that his God had already seen that His prized servant was prepared within for the moment just ahead. He saw in Abraham a man who had come to full stature in the Lord of his calling. At this point in time Abraham was beyond looking for escape routes from the perfect will of God. And so, now he knew that he must come to grips with the most difficult thing that he’d ever undertake. No more does he look or hope for a fork in the road as when he was young. There is no other way than what the message to him had declared: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering ...” There was a day when Abraham sought out what his Lord would permit, though in his heart he knew that it wasn’t the more excellent way. Then he spoke, thought, and understood as one not yet whole in spirit. But now he would not allow doubt or fear to enter while he pondered a monumental task before him. Abraham would climb up into the mountain, his heart and mind steadfast on the offering up of his son – the son of his love - through who was to come the promise.
All believers, who by their lives threaten the kingdom of darkness, will have trouble; there’ll be mountains to ascend to, all of a different sort. It will be inevitable. Yet they must take courage. That haughty part of the landscape, that they’ll dread to think of or look upon, will turn out to be the very place where the answer is hidden. In other words, the victory comes to us only on the mountain. The key to unlock the door that stands defiantly before us, to stop our progress in the Spirit, will be found in the heights. However, our human nature will tell us that the solution to our trial may be found in more favorable places. We may feel that all can be made right again beside a peaceful running stream at the foothills of our mountain. Or possibly we will imagine that a healing of some dreadful thing within us will come on a place of level ground, just a short way up the mountain, where the sun seems to shine in such a warm and pleasant way. But much more than not these are the voices of the flesh – the Ishmael in us - stating that our troubles and our sorrows can be faced and defeated fairly easily, without much energy spent or time wrestling with God in prayer. Remember; that was how Jacob received a great blessing from the Lord.
If the spirit man within us is not tested and proved - and at times sorely – then how does he grow? How does he become strong? How does he accumulate wisdom and understanding where it concerns the warfare we have all been called to? It is the Lord who has formed the paths of each and every heir of the kingdom, and they have not been drawn up according to our wishes or on our own terms. There was a time when Abraham took the smooth and easy route. Coming to where the road forked, he would select what was level and not too rough to trod, or perhaps the way with the more pleasant surroundings. “Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!” Abraham once pleaded with the Lord. After all, it was the simpler way. Ishmael had already been born to the patriarch and was now fourteen years of age. Let’s not complicate matters, were his thoughts. Let well enough alone. This was no doubt his thinking. But our thoughts are not His (God’s) thoughts, Isaiah once wrote.
God tests the spirit man so that we may know if faith abounds. The birth of Ishmael did not test Abraham’s faith in the Almighty, since in that birth there was nothing more involved than that which was to be expected. But now Abraham needed to believe that a child would be born to both he and his wife, neither of who were capable of reproducing any longer. Was he prepared for this? The fact of the matter is that until we’ve become a whole man – in proportion to the place we’ve attained to in the Spirit – then the way that is smooth and where the sun shines brightest will normally be the direction we’ll head for. And God will allow it. He is gracious and full of mercy. He sees the weakness of our frames. But for all who desire strength, wisdom, courage, and are bent on putting the arrow in the bull’s-eye before their time in this world is gone – for these He will shatter every prop, so that faith alone in the One True God becomes their only path. For them there is no permissive will afforded from on high; it was taken out of the way on the day they came of age, now leaving but a single road to look down. It will take them to their mountain. This is what Abraham travelled with Isaac in the hour of his most severe testing.
So often do God’s children go after the way of the flesh, just as our forefather Abraham once did. If we have a choice, it’s the easier path. After all, then we ourselves can have a hand in bringing about the answer we are looking for. But if that answer must be Isaac, and not Ishmael, then at this point God alone has to be trusted; at this point we need to lay our own reasoning down; and we may need to take up a cross. This is Isaac. This is where there is no fork in the road. Our heavenly Father sees we are grown enough to overcome the mountain ahead. Was this not what Jesus was talking about when He spoke these words to Peter: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
If we are adamant in getting our way, then we just may toil beneath the heavy weight of a guilty conscience, while expending much energy to boot. But many prefer this to truth. In such cases the Lord will often sit back and let us learn a difficult lesson here, but usually not immediately. Following a time of hard labor, there’s a good chance that all will go well with us, and with no mountain to climb. However, there’ll be deep waters afterwards. This scenario will be reversed when we go down the road that the finger of the Spirit has pointed to. First comes the test to break the heart. Then afterward we are flooded by the peaceable fruit of righteousness; our feet have been put in open spaces at the top of the mountain to which we’ve ascended.
When the mountain calls, it is always best to sacrifice to Him the thing dear to us. There we must put a knife to it, though it be difficult. This will eventually result in the birth of something far more glorious than what was slain; something not of the bondwoman but of the freewoman; not of Ishmael but of Isaac; something that must be believed for from our God, for it will not be of the flesh but of the Spirit. In the mount of the Lord it is provided. Great is our God.
- J. Pecoraro
