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March 5th When God puts you on hold Genesis 22     Matthew 15 "Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you. So let's just praise the Lord." It is a catchy tune and positive lyric. We hope it is true. Because, as far as faith goes, Abraham is the man to follow and immitate. The Father of the Faithful - Abraham helps us understand the Old Testament call of faith... The heart of the Gospel beats in the faith of one man who trusted the God he could not see, but believed in. He offered up what must not be lost, a son, to gain what can never be lost, the promises of God (Romans 4). A Step of Faith - Abraham leaves home at God's call, abandons all he knows. Like every other follower, he has seasons of wondering if he made the right choice. He doubts. He is afraid. He questions, but he goes on one step at time. Abraham believed the Lord and that faith was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4). His trust in God led to the Mount of Sacrifice - Moriah - with his son toting the wood for the altar on his back. The word came to Abraham to go, (Genesis 22) and this man of faith got up and went. He trusted God in the dark, with wind blowing, the mount calling and the fire burning - God would make a way! He knew God was faithful from before when he trusted God and God pulled him through. They had a lasting relationship based on trust. To believe the Bible or to believe in Jesus is about what you think is true. That requires certain steps of faith, but to trust God, that is about who you think you can trust (E. R. McManus). Ready to trust God no matter what, Abraham's left for all of us a legacy of trust in God for those after him. The God who says to Abraham, "Kill your son, your only son." Abraham trusted. Like Job, who stated, "Even though He slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 6)." We are invited with Abraham, Job, David and all the others to trust God. What may be your Issac? What are you holding to tighter than you are holding onto the promises of God? Like these faithful ones who have come before us learned, the Lord God oesn't always seem to respond as we would expect. Does it seem like sometimes when we call God He puts you on hold? Sometimes in getting an answer we have to wait on God. No one likes to wait. No me. Not you. No one. But the Bible teaches us to wait on the Lord... read Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart; wait I say on the Lord That sounds great when everything is going OK for me and the ones I care about... but when waiting on a call from a loved one, would we say "Wait on the Lord..." What about someone in a hospital bed with pain and frustration or to someone struggling with a spouse who is abusive, or a child who is distant and drifting away...? Or what about one who is out of a job and no funds and many bills? Or a parent with a problem child, or a child with a problem parent? - "Wait" We want to know, "what can I do while waiting?" Abraham had a word from God - to take Isaac, go to the mount and sacrifice him - end of tranmission. So he went. He got up the servants, the boy, Issac, some fire wood and went on. Without a word. That is what we do. The last thing God told us to do. Does he pray silently going up the mountain? I would have. Wouldn't you? "OK, Lord I have done what you asked and now we are almost to the place of sacrifice. What you doing? Will you tell me this is all a big mistake, a miscommunication, a dropped phrase in your last transmission and let me know what you are doing?" He prays... He listens... and nothing. He waits. What do you do when God puts you on hold? When God doesn't reply right then? When there is no proof that your prayer was heard, much less, answered - what do you do? There is nothing else you can do but hold on tight to what you already know about God. The Lord is faithful to a thousand generations of those who love Him. Our God is a refuge. A very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). You may not understand why you are going through what you are going through, but God does. Read Psalm 40:1-3. After waiting, I the Lord moved and worked out good from what looked bad. The present may not make sense, but hang on to the God who is holding on to you and let Him teach you what He has done in your past and promises to do in your future. Job asked "Why don't you speak to me", and eventually God did (Job 35-42). The prophets cried out "God when are you going to answer us? Where is the messiah, our Savior?". The answer came...by Isaiah. Behold, the virgin shall concieve and bear a son and you shall call his name, Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). Abraham asked "God, why don't you speak? Where is my son?" God gave him a son, Isaac. God always speaks, but "sometimes he puts us on hold" (Bryan Aalborg). Sometimes He says, Yes. Sometimes, No. Sometimes He says, Not yet. Can you accept His not yet? God always speaks. Well, almost always. There was one time He didn't seem to speak. In fact, it seemed He would never speak again. It was Jesus' last day on earth - Crucifixion Day. From a cross on a hill near Jerusalem. A dark day and a dreary time for good people. A cry came out, from One high in the air, hung between heaven and earth, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" It was not until the resurrection that Jesus got his answer! It seems the same for many thousands of believers throughout history. They go to their graves with unanswered prayers. Many leave this earth trusting in what they have not seen and believing what they have only heard, but yet, they do believe (Read Hebrews 11:13-16). But Jesus did hear. He did believe in the God who had always been faithful and had trusted to always be faithful. His death cry, "My God, why", was replaced by, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit". He trusted himself to a Father who had been with Him in the past. The Father who gave Him a mission, who loved Him beyond all we imagine, and who raised Him from the dead to vindicate His sacrifice. God answered Abrahams muted, if only thought, prayers. "Abraham Do not harm the boy. For I know that God is first in your life - you have not withheld even your beloved son from me." Then Abraham noticed a ram caught in the bushes. So he took it for the sacrifice, instead of his son, a burnt offering on the altar. " (Genesis 22:11-12) God vindicated Abraham's life work. His work of faith. Of trust in the plan of the God of the universe. God vindicated the faith of the man from whom He would build a nation of sons and daughters who would seek to glorify God and tell of His greatness (Genesis 22:15-24). We can learn how to trust God in the hard times from Father Abraham. When God puts you on hold (drawn from list given by Bryan Aalborg in Preaching magazine): 1. You hang on to God you already know. You trust His word already given. You stay in the present, as difficult as that may be, and let Him work in you right now. You get with His people and worship and pray. 2. You wait for Him. You wait for His answer in His time. You trust His hand even when you cannot see his hand. You will be glad you did. Read Psalm 40:1-3 3. You follow His leading. Keep talking and listening, listening and talking and waiting on him. God will answer - just hang on. Or maybe He has answered and you didn't like the answer. Or maybe He is waiting for you to trust him, even without an actual answer. Let Him be your peace in the crisis and that is better than any answer you could get.

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