God's Plan Continues

            God is all-knowing. He is not limited by the passing of time. In a sense, we could say that He is above time, somehow knowing the past, present, and future all at once. Even though this is hard for us to grasp with our limited, finite minds, this means that God is never surprised by mankind’s choices.
            So it shouldn’t surprise us that God reaffirms His promise to Abram concerning the son that was to become the Jewish nation. God appears to Abram again and the two go through a covenant-cutting ceremony. It’s a vivid picture of God’s faithfulness, despite Abram messing things up along the journey to this place. As part of the ceremony, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham.
            Both names mean exalted father. The latter variation is a word play of sorts because it sounds like “father of a multitude.” Every time Abraham would hear his new name, it would remind him of God’s call and promise.
            Some years later, God invites Abraham to another vivid ceremony that would paint a picture that would likewise span the ages. God calls Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. Remember, child sacrifices are common in the ungodly ancient cultures. So this had to be a shocker, to say the least. But Abraham had grown in his knowledge of God’s love and faithfulness.  So he took another step of faith.
            In hindsight, we now know that sacrificing Isaac was not God’s intention at all. He already had the sacrificial lamb lined up in the briers of a near-by bush. God went so far as to allow Abraham to tie his son on the altar before intervening. Perhaps the lad’s father believed that God would raise his son from the dead.
            That may seem harsh in our hindsight, but it provided Abraham with a vivid reminder of his faith in God for all the rest of his years. He had passed the test. We can only imagine that it also left an indelible picture of faithfulness in Isaac’s heart as well! That picture also cast a shadow on a future, world-changing sacrifice that would secure the New Covenant for all mankind.
            The Chronos Lesson: These types and shadows found in the early Days of the Old Testament likewise provide us in these latter Days with a vivid picture of God’s faithfulness and our own faith walk. Check out the “Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11.
            As believers, our heart longs to serve God and further His kingdom. But when we don’t see things line up according to what we expect, we face a decisive moment. We can lose heart because we still only see in part, or we can guard our heart. How do we do this in a practical way? The Apostle Paul gives us the way in Phil. 4:6-8.
             “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”  Let’s put this into a handy checklist.

• We resist being anxious and stressed.
• We give thanks when we pray because that is an act of faith, thanking God for His will to be done before we see it manifested on the earth.
• We discipline our minds to think on the right things.
• We meditate on these things so that we can see them as being real even before we see them happen in our lives.
• We trust in God’s “good report” of His plan recorded in the Scriptures.