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15The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, 18and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice." 19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.
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Let me tell you a story about a young teacher. She received her degree in elementary education and was incredibly excited to get her first teaching job. She felt called to teaching and knew this was the career for her. She had been dreaming about teaching for as long as she could remember. She finally got a call from a school district asking to set up an interview, and before you know it, she had been hired as a kindergarten teacher. It was like a dream come true as she began to set up her classroom and anticipate the arrival of all of her students. The first year flew by and as she approached the last month of school, she reflected on how blessed she was to be working in a career she adored.
Everything was going great with her career until her spouse was accepted into flight school with the Air Force. Don’t get me wrong - It was an amazing opportunity but it meant many moves in their future, and it meant she needed to walk away from her career as a teacher. Can you guess who that young teacher was? Yep, it was me.
Sometimes we are asked by God to surrender the gifts He has bestowed upon us. We may never really understand why, but that’s part of faith. Sometimes we just aren’t meant to know the “why.” Abraham was asked to offer his son at the altar as a sacrifice to show his devotion to God. His son was an incredible gift from God, but Abraham was still willing to follow God in a very extravagant way. In the end, Isaac was not sacrificed and God rewarded Abraham’s faithfulness by blessing his family and promising they would continue Abraham’s family lineage. We are sometimes asked to give up a gift that God has given us for reasons we don’t yet understand and it can be heartbreaking.
I may have had to give up my career as a teacher, but I experienced so many gifts in ways I never would have anticipated. Sometimes we are called to take a different path, but when we walk that new path with faith - God will continue to bless us in new, exciting, and unexpected ways.
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Thank You, Father, that beyond the heartbreak, there is resurrection. Give me the grace to act on this great promise. Amen
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Written by Sarah Hembrook
Director of Children and Family Ministry
shembrook@stjohns-springfield.org
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