“And so it was that he [Abraham], having waited long and endured patiently, realised and obtained [in the birth of Isaac as a pledge of what was to come] what God had promised him.” Heb 6:15 (Amplified)
You possibly may or may not have heard of the term ‘Name it and claim it’. It is in fact a pejorative phrase often associated with the word of faith movement by its detractors. These believe that whatever blessings God has promised in His word is yours for the asking and appropriation as His child, provided you do so in faith. I subscribe to this biblical truth wholeheartedly as I believe that God only says what He means and true to His character always mean what He says. However like any good thing, this fact is open to abuse and has been abused by many who think that God exists primarily to serve their needs. As a result faith can often become an end in itself simply because we want to selfishly expend God’s blessing upon ourselves. This navel-gazing outlook can never be right since there is always a greater end to faith, the magnitude of which often exceeds our puny expectations.
The man Abraham was a veteran of faith who served God wholeheartedly; hence God promised to bless the totality of mankind through him. However, as this promise took a while to translate into a reality, Abraham would periodically doubt God’s ability or question His inclination to fulfil His promise. This was because God had blessed Abraham with every blessing imaginable except that which he desired most and without which all the other blessings would prove meaningless – a son. This was because Isaac represented more than just an old age child. He in reality embodied the guarantee of the bright future God had promised Abraham. Although Isaac was very important to Abraham, in the scheme of things, he was only the means to or guarantee of a greater end – God’s blessings for mankind. Consequently, it would have been completely wrong of Abraham to have made Isaac the end of his faith endeavour whilst forgetting about God’s greater purpose to confer significance on his life.
So, what does this mean for us as Christians and spiritual descendant of Abraham? It means that whatever your Isaac is, whatever it is that you are desperately trusting God for, whatever it is that you want God to do for you that more or less represents the centre of your world and without which other things seem presently insignificant, it is good to always remember that such things are but the means to a greater end. They are just God’s down payment for a greater future. They represent His guarantee that He would fulfil His promise of an eternal end. They prove to us that He indeed exists and rewards those who seek Him – temporally and eternally. So, if you are presently trusting God for a child, house, job, or your next meal, never lose sight of the fact that these are just temporal things that proves God’s faithfulness to us on a daily basis. Your focus must be on the bigger picture, the greater end, the kingdom objective.
Prayer:
Lord, your word says that to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life eternal. I ask that you enable me to develop the right spiritual perspective so that I will always know that whatever you choose to bless me with here on earth serves only as a pointer to and guarantee of the greater things you have in store for me in your presence. Help me to serve you for you and not just what I can gain from you in Jesus name. Amen.