New Year, New Trust
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” - Corrie ten Boom
Trust is a rare quality to find in our world right now. We have more distrust with the media, politicians, healthcare providers, scientists, and theologians than one may remember. I find myself not knowing who or what to believe anymore. And yet, I have peace. I have peace because I know my Engineer will remain constant always. God is the constant I can always trust.
Many of us are experiencing our faith being tested. Our anxiety, workload, unemployment, finances, relationships, health, and all the unknowns in between are wearing us thin. Now, imagine if your faith was tested by God asking you to sacrifice the one thing you loved most.
He did just that to Abraham, the “father of faith.”
Genesis 22 tells us the story of God testing Abraham. God said to Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering. And Abraham did as the Lord told him. He set out with his son and some young men on donkeys, with wood he had cut for the burnt offering. When the group arrived at the base of the mountain, Abraham told the young men he and Isaac “will go over there and worship and come again to you.” When Isaac questioned his father about the lamb for the offering, Abraham replied, “God will provide.”
Abraham and Isaac reached the place God had told them, and Abraham built an altar, bound Isaac, and laid Isaac on the altar on top of the wood. As Abraham reached for the knife to sacrifice his son, an angel of the Lord appeared and called out to Abraham. The angel said, “... For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son.” When Abraham rose, he found a ram, with his horns caught in a thicket, and sacrificed the ram as the burnt offering. The angel again spoke to Abraham saying, “because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, [the Lord] will surely bless you... because you have obeyed my voice.”
There are so many nuggets to take away from this story:
When Abraham informed the young men he and Isaac would return to them, he was already displaying his profound trust in God. This is important to understand - Abraham, although God already instructed him to offer his son as an offering, believed he and Isaac would return down the mountain together. He even told Isaac, “God will provide.”
Isaac, although referenced as a boy in the scripture, is not a child and is believed to have been in his thirties. Abraham himself was over one hundred years old at this time. Isaac is strong and quite a bit stronger than Abraham; Abraham had Isaac carry all the wood for the burnt offering up the mountain. Isaac could have easily overpowered his father, but yet submitted and trusted him, just as Abraham was submitting and trusting his Heavenly Father.
This story tees the ball up for the greatest Biblical story - that of God sacrificing His one and only son for you and me. Abraham sacrificing Isaac mirrors God sacrificing Jesus.
God is not our enemy. God will likely ask both you and me at different times in our lives to sacrifice things - whether it be ending toxic friendships or relationships, giving up certain habits, or even making less money all in an effort to serve Him better. In every situation we must believe, just like Abraham, “God will provide.”
Trust is sometimes hard to grasp. Even Jesus, although he submitted to his Father’s plans, asked, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). But if we take a moment and see how God has worked out so many things in our lives, even when we did not know it at the time, trust may come a bit easier. I often reflect on my life and see how God’s hand was upon so many aspects, even when I felt helpless at times. In doing this, I understand God’s character and my confidence in Him only increases.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” -Jeremiah 17: 7-8
I encourage you, at the beginning of this new year, to increase your trust in the Lord. Place your life and all you love in His hands and see what happens. Whether a season of drought or abundance, your fear will subside and you will find peace. Trust the Engineer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Whitney can be described by the opening lyrics of a few Tom Petty songs. She's a good girl who grew up in a small Indiana town who loves her mama, Jesus, and America too. She practices medicine as a physician assistant at an urgent care. Whitney is a music enthusiast and leads worship at her church. She has a heart for people, and wants to help young girls and women find their worth in Christ rather than what the world says of them. Whitney loves a good dad joke, the outdoors, spending time with family and friends, Southern manners, working on her fitness, attempting Pinterest crafts, and cheering on Indiana University basketball.