Journal Entry ~ 06/08/19

17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." - Genesis 22:17-18

This is a story about God blessing Abraham and his offspring, but it is just as much for us as it is for Him. Those words are written for us. Read them again as if God is talking to you. 

I remember the first time this struck me - I was on a prayer walk when I heard these words differently than I had in the past. I’d always read this verse as part of a story about Abraham, and admired his incredible faith in the moment when he chose to surrender his son Isaac. It had always been a story about someone else teaching me about how to surrender my deepest longing. But then I heard God clearly talking to me - my offspring will be blessed because I have obeyed His voice. It overwhelmed me. It doesn't say “I might bless you,” my friends, it says “I will surely bless you” because I have obeyed His voice. And it doesn’t just say I will be blessed, it says my children will be blessed because of my obedience. 

I will tell you I have not always obeyed His voice - I lived a long time putting my own needs and desires first. Even as a professed Christian, I would pick and choose what I surrendered, still holding on to what I wanted to hold on to, still doing what I wanted to, still letting so many things take priority over my relationship with Him. If my kids needed to be somewhere, I would let it trump my time with God. If I was exhausted from an overworked schedule, I would skip out on my time with Him. I spent so much of my time worrying about the things I cared about, and so much energy on what other people thought over what God thinks. God was in the mix, but there were so many things that took priority. And my children suffered for it. I hadn’t yet learned that putting my children before God puts them at risk. 

That's what these verses are about. He will bless you if you are obedient and surrender your idols to Him...and not only will He bless you for that obedience, but He will bless your children because of it. My obedience in releasing my fears and my anxieties brings blessings to my children. 

There are so many time when I've been the barrier to the very blessings I've prayed for because I struggled to let go of my prayer request and trust Him with it. All that to say, God knows my heart. He knows it's in such a different place now. I still struggle every day with my flesh, but He knows my deepest desire is to please Him and to be obedient to Him - even when it's hard. 

I so deeply desire for my children to be blessed, and I am determined to grow in obedience every day. And if obedience means I need to surrender them to Him so that they may be blessed, then I will work every day to figure out how to do that....because He promises to bless them, and I've stood in the way of that blessing for too many years. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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