Daily Devotional for December 13, 2015

Genesis 22:12
“Don’t hurt the boy or harm him in any way!” the angel said. “Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son.”

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

Friends of mine are sitting with their 31-year-old daughter as she nears the end of her battle with breast cancer.  The mother wrote a heart-wrenching note on Facebook today, describing the time she is sharing with her child before she enters the gates of Heaven…the conversations they are having…and how grateful this mother is for the years she was given with her daughter and the medical staff who extended her earthly stay.  She closed by saying, “From our family to you and yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS and A BLESSED and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.”  Because I know this family and their level of faith, I know that this mother means every word of her last sentence.

I have sat with more than one person who was nearing the end of their life and the beginning of an eternity in the presence of Jesus.  I have shared conversations and “prayed them on” in their journey…I have “let go.”  But thankfully, I have never done this as a parent.  I am told it is the deepest heartbreak imaginable.  And yet, countless mothers and fathers have had to let go of their children and say, “They belong to You now, LORD”…and find a way to move on with their lives.  In a way, these people are modern-day Abrahams.

Okay, so they didn’t physically sacrifice their own children…or make preparations to take their lives as a demonstration of faith in God.  And no, they really had no “say” about whether their children lived or died.  But still, they had to make the mental choice to offer their sons and daughters to God and say, “Go ahead and take them…I will trust You to take care of me without them.”  And that is a huge leap of faith for anyone.

This is the kind of faith that I am cultivating.  I want to be so confident in God’s love and care that I can boldly say, “Take everything and everyone, if You must…and I will still honor You and glorify Your name.  I will still serve You with every fiber of my being and do my best to serve you with obedience and grace.”  This is fearless living…and I want to embrace it!

Will it be easy?  Not at all…but then, being a faith-filled Christian often is anything but comfortable and trouble-free.  That’s why they call it “faith!”  I know that the rewards are so worth it…of this I am very sure.  So I am going all in and asking God to equip me to live this life to which He has called me.  What about you?  Are you ready to live fearlessly, too?


©2015 Debbie Robus

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