Sacrificing our Desires (Obedience)

I’d like to share a little about what God has shown me about obedience.  John 14:21 says, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  Let’s start by reading the story of Abraham and Isaac:

Genesis 22:1-12: Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”  And he said, “Here I am.”  2. Then he said, “Take now 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.”  3. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.  5. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”  6. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.  7. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”  And he said, “Here I am, my son.”  Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  8. And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”  So the two of them went together.  9. Then they came to the place which God had told him.  And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.  10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  11. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”  So he said, “Here I am.”  12. And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Isaac was Abraham’s future and the fulfillment of God’s promise to him.  God had told Abraham he would make him a great nation with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.  Isaac’s birth was a miracle since his wife Sarah was 90 years old.  Also, in that time a person’s firstborn child was even more important than today, since that was their heir and how their name would continue.  So it was a huge test of Abraham’s faith in God and his willingness to obey when God told him to sacrifice his only son.

God can also test our faith and obedience by asking us to sacrifice our greatest desire and our future to Him.  Whatever we place our highest value on, He may ask us to turn over to Him.

Here are a few verses about God’s plan for our lives:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Lamentations 3:25-29 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.  It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.  Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.

These verses show that God’s thoughts towards us are good and that He wants to bless us and give us abundant lives full of joy.  Since this is true, then why does God sometimes test us and make us go through difficult circumstances?  James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

These verses show that trials demonstrate our faith and develop patience in us.  This process strengthens us and shapes our character.  Tests can also show us where we are at, just like in school.  If students study all the time and are never tested, it’s hard to know if they’ve actually learned the material or not.  Similarly, tests God sends us show if we’re absorbing His word into our lives and living in obedience to Him.  Something Pastor Steve said is that “When there is a difference between where you are at and where God promised you to be, there is potential for the enemy to mock you or for God to develop your character.”

At times it is difficult to believe God will work things out.  A couple examples of unbelief in the Bible are when the disciples were in the boat and Jesus was sleeping during the storm, as well as the Israelites when they were in the desert after escaping Egypt.  The disciples had seen Jesus do many miracles, but still they feared for their lives and cried out to Jesus questioning if He cared that they were perishing.  The Israelites had seen the ten plagues God sent on the Egyptians, the Red Sea parted, God’s provision to send them manna from heaven for food, and His continual presence above the camp as a pillar of fire or a cloud, but still they constantly doubted and disobeyed what God told them to do.  I sometimes question how they could be so blind and unbelieving even after all they had seen God do, but I realize I am guilty of the same thing.  God has blessed me so abundantly at every stage of my life, led me exactly where I needed to be, and protected and provided for me continuously, but still I often question and doubt His plans for the future and if He will bless me in one small area.

So what should we do?  Picture that you are a Marine on the ground in a combat mission.  It would be smart to listen to the directions given from satellites or planes flying overhead telling you which route is best to take.  While one trail may look like a safer and better path from your vantage point, the overhead imagery may reveal an ambush set there and tell you to go a way that seems more difficult.  Similarly, in our lives we can get too close to situations to see clearly.  God is infinitely better than any satellite, since nothing is hidden from Him, and he also knows everything that will happen in the future.  He sees the big picture and how everything is going to develop, and He can direct us to be a part of His perfect plan if we will listen.

It is important to have our comm lines with Him open, or we won’t be able to hear His directions.  This means we should be reading our Bibles and praying every day.  My roommate and I also don’t have TV since this sucks up time and attention and makes it harder to hear from the Lord.  Something else I do when work tempo is off the charts and the cares of this world are crowding in, is to take a day off to go for a drive, get into nature, and refocus on God.

Luke 11:11-13 says, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”  We sometimes we ask God for a fish, but try to take a snake and then get mad when He won’t give it to us.  Or maybe the fish we see Him holding and want to have isn’t our fish, but is something He is going to give to our brother or sister.  When we were feeding the children in the village this week, it was beautiful when a child would feed a younger one before taking any themselves.  It was also ugly when two of them would fight over a piece of bread.  We should learn from this and pray for our brothers and sisters, and rejoice when God blesses them, even if He gives them something we wanted.  Sometimes God is just using a fish to get our attention back to Him, and it’s not about the fish at all.

When God calls us to sacrifice something to Him, we have to completely surrender to His will.  Tie your desire to the altar and obey.  Don’t assume you passed the test and start untying it until He says to.  I have tried to do this in the past, and He uses circumstances to say, “What do you think you’re doing?  Put that back up there!”  While we know God wouldn’t have made Abraham kill Isaac since He is against child sacrifice, many of our desires may not be for His glory and we may actually have to drop the knife and die to our flesh and what we want.

This has been a bit theoretical so far, so let’s look at some practical applications we can use when going through trials and having to turn our plans over to God.  Philippians 4:4-7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  We should step up our praise life and sing to God always, especially when we’re going through hard times.  We shouldn’t be anxious about the future, but instead thank God for what He has done and ask Him for what we want Him to do.  After that, leave it up to Him, and He will give peace to our hearts and minds.  This is a promise we can claim.  1 Thessalonians 5:16­-18 reinforces these instructions and also says to never stop praying: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”  I’ll go Bear Grylls on you for a second.  This verse is saying that like a lineman in football pushing with all of his strength and keeps chopping his legs even after they are screaming in pain for him to stop, we need to keep pressing forward spiritually to what God has called us to do.  It also promises that that the good we do will be rewarded, although we don’t know when or even if the reward won’t be until heaven.  This verse touches on self-discipline as well, which is something that is lacking in America.  Some of us have developed it to some extent in sports, but spiritual self-discipline is much harder.  Fighting our flesh does help our spirit though, which is one of the reasons fasting is valuable and worth doing.  As men we should develop a heart like David, who was soft towards God, but also warrior-like and courageous.  It is easy to fall completely one way or the other, but God can help us be both.

Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  This verse is straightforward and tells us to just focus on the day.  God will take care of the rest of the week, month, year, and life, if we just focus on Him and follow Him today.  This doesn’t mean we can’t do some planning for the future, but we shouldn’t constantly worry and think about it.  Also, we need to be willing to drop all of our plans for life at the drop of a hat if God tells us to.  If our life goals are more important to us than what God wants us to do, and we aren’t able to lay them down, we need to pray about this and ask for Him to change our heart.

Always remember God is on the throne and everything is completely under His control.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”  It is so easy to doubt when we encounter difficulties and have to give up something we wanted, but taking our eyes off our circumstances and putting them on God can help that.  God created the entire cosmos in six days and our minor little issues are so trivial He could completely solve them in an instant without even blinking.  He just chooses not to because He is using them as a tool to work on us.

This next verse is commonly shared because it is a powerful promise.  Psalm 37:3-7 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”  I know because I’m guilty of it that we can easily key in on the “give you the desires of your heart” part of the verse, but that is really the afterthought.  This verse is saying to be content where we are and revel in our relationship with God and how good He is to us.  Trust him, let him lead us, and wait for Him to do the work.  This is counter to what we often do when we struggle to get what we want or are unsatisfied with where He has us.

Lastly, when I talked about giving up our greatest desire at the beginning of the message, this should have thrown up red flags in your mind.  God should be the love of our life and our number one desire.  Anything else should be a distant second place.

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Most of this message was shared in Haiti last summer.  I hoped I was about to pass the test at the time, but over a year later I realize I haven’t even learned the lesson yet and I disobey every time when it’s something I really want.  I am discouraged and heavy-hearted, but can take some solace in the fact that even Abraham, the father of faith, didn’t pass his greatest test until late in his life.  He acted in unbelief many times earlier in his life before he truly trusted God with everything.  Also, I’ve learned that God is faithful to take our desires away when we’re too weak to lay them down willingly.