May 30, 2018: Financial Preparation

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” - Genesis 22:1–2 (ESV)

As I was praying for our trip last night--for our hearts, the airfare, for wisdom, and our finances--one of the things that I found myself asking was, "What do you want us to learn from this, God? Fundraising hasn't been as easy as most of us have hoped. What is it that you want us to learn from this?"

I've asked this question often and to be honest, until last night, I had no idea what I would say regarding Financial Preparation. I could talk again about seeking God's Kingdom first and His righteousness, encouraging us that putting our money towards Kingdom work is never a waste, or  I could harken back to the Parable of the Talents to remind us that these are God's resources anyway and that we are only called to be good and faithful stewards of what He gives, because every good and perfect gift comes from above. However, both of these angles were a bit more "preachy" than I would have liked and I didn't want to guilt people into giving of their own money to help pay for their trip costs. Instead, as I was praying, God brought the above passage to mind and I was instantly encouraged. Here is why:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” - Hebrews 11:17-18 (NIV)

If you're familiar with the story of Abraham, you know that he and his wife were super old and childless. God promised that they would have a son, but Sarah, Abraham's wife, was barren. She assumed that the child would come from someone else, so she had Abraham marry her servant, who bore him a son.

However, that isn't what God meant. Instead, He allowed Sarah to conceive when she was 90 YEARS OLD and she gave birth to their son and heir, Isaac. Everything was all sunshine and rainbows until God said to Abraham, "So, you know your son, Isaac? The miracle baby? The one I promised you in your old age? The one through which I promised innumerable descendants? Yeah, I want you to sacrifice him to me as an offering." (Paraphrase)

<Insert record scratch sound here>

Can you imagine having something so dear to you--as dear as a miracle child promised to you in your old age by God--and yet God asks you to sacrifice that very thing? Would you hesitate? Would you say no? Would you question God and His ability to provide? Abraham didn't. This is what the Scripture says next:

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”- Genesis 22:3–14 (ESV)

What I love about this story the most is what Abraham calls that place--The LORD will provide. God gave me so much peace when He answered this prayer--He knew exactly what He was doing. I had asked Him, "What do you want us to learn from this?" and His answer was two-fold:

1) He wants us to honor Him enough in obedience that we won't hold anything back from him, including our finances

2) He wants us to have enough faith like Abraham to know that even when we make sacrifices, He can still work miracles and He will still provide

So how does this passage prepare us financially for the trip?

I think this process has been an exercise in faith for parents and team members alike. God didn't make this easy because He doesn't waste the time that we spend journeying towards our destination--He uses that time to teach us, shape us, and change us into greater imitators of Christ. I thank God that He loves us enough not to leave us where we are in our faith and that He wants to challenge us and cause us to follow Him in greater obedience. Financial preparation in this case is akin to humility and obedience, and I can't think of a better posture in which to start the trip.

Thank you for your faithfulness so far and please don't give up! We have yet to see the full fruit of our labors and as always, it's better to follow God through the wilderness than to navigate the lush valleys on our own.

Persevere.