Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
On the last day of our week of 24/7 prayer the Lord spoke to me and told me to go to Mt. Moriah and like Abraham, put all of my Isaacs on the altar (Gen. 22:1-5). Those Isaacs included some very personal and dear dreams. That was not easy to do.
Deep in every person’s heart is the God given desire to live a life that makes a difference. Many spend their lives looking for that one thing to which they can give their all. We are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest desires that truly reflect who we are and why we are here. Your Isaac is the thing God has given you; it is your purpose, your calling, your vision, certain relationships and your dreams. It is different things for each of us, but for all of us it is what is most important to us in this life.
Your life revolves around your Isaac so the prospect of the death of an Isaac can be a traumatizing thought. However, if we are really going to walk with God we are going to have to walk up to Moriah and give up Isaac. When I first became a pastor a friend named Tom Bailey, who is wonderful Bible teacher, gave me some great counsel. He said, “Byron, God has called you to be a David and every once in a while He is going to come and see if you are still a David. See, a David holds everything with an open hand. When Absalom betrayed David, God was looking to see if David was still a David and that is why ultimately David was able to keep the kingdom.”
To me that is what Mt. Moriah is about. It is holding everything before the Lord with an open hand. It is a heart and life of surrender. Now here was the catch the Lord told me in the prayer room that day. He reminded me of some counsel I gave to a young man several years ago.
This young man had been burned badly doing a CD. He had put all his chips on the table to do this CD and he lost every one of them. One day I saw he had a darkness trying to get on him and I spoke with him about it. Later that day he called me and told me he had made a decision to lay his music and worship ministry down. I told him, “I agree you must lay it down, but you must not stop doing music or worship ministry. You have to lay it down in your heart and continue to be a good steward of your assignment.”
That takes a lot of grace. It is much easier to stop and walk or run away and not have to deal with it anymore. That is what we all want to do. The Lord was telling me in the prayer room to surrender it all, but keep doing what I have given you to do. The truth is there will be no fire without a sacrifice and if we want a continual fire we have to walk in continual surrender to Him.
If you read the rest of Abraham’s story you will discover not only did the Lord restore Isaac to him, but also it says, “The Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven.” (Gen. 22:15). If we will let go we will ultimately keep all He has meant for us to have and the Lord will open new doors for us.
Many Blessings, BW