The Freedom of Abraham

Thus Abraham becomes a free man.  He was set free from family and country when he left his native land.  He was set free from fear when he walked into hostile territory.  He was set free from doubt when he let the Lord give him a son.  Now he is set free from his ties to his own children and from worrying about the future because he has put himself entirely in God's hands.

And what does God do?  He gives it all back to him.  Abraham has a family again, he has a country again, he has a son again, he has a future again.  The reward of his faith is freedom, the freedom to fulfill the deepest desire of his heart....faith leads to the greatest human fulfillment (Richard Rohr in The Great Themes of Scripture, p. 97).

What does God want of us?  Everything.  It's that simple.  He cannot give us what we have not surrendered to him, for it is still under our control and management.  But our management is not good enough; it is always limited by our understanding of what is possible.  God's plans go far beyond what we can see or imagine:  "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).

People think the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is ridiculous, that God would not ask such a thing.  But we are all called to surrender our children to the Lord.  They do not "belong" to us; we were given for a time the privilege of serving them, of cherishing them, of loving them.  But, like Mary at the wedding of Cana, we must also at some point surrender them to the plans and purposes of God.

I had a good friend whose 14-year old son was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  At first, my friend prayed for a healing.  Then she got angry at God.  She had 8 children and she had taken them all to church since they were born.  One day in her den, she shook her fist at God:  "How can You do this after all I've tried to serve you all these years?" she cried out.  And then she proceeded to tell God all she had done "for Him." 

In the midst of her outburst, something powerful came over her and she fell to her knees, apologizing to the Lord.  "I'm sorry;" she said.  "You gave me Your Son, and now I give you mine. He is yours."  And peace came over her with the surrender.

Even though several doctors had said to her, "I'm sorry, Mom; he's a fine boy, but there's nothing we can do," one doctor decided to operate just to relieve the pressure on the boy's brain.  When they opened him up in surgery, there was no tumor to be found!  She surrendered her son to God, and God gave him back to her.  She is long dead now, but that son is still alive and flourishing.

Nothing we surrender to God is lost.  He blesses the situation and returns it to us as a gift.  And then we are free to enjoy it without worry about losing it again.  Once it's in God's hands fully, He knows how to take care of what we have given to Him.