My Isaac Part 4 The Song

What Is Isaac?

 During our church’s camp meeting in July 2007, an evangelist preached a message called, “What Is Isaac?” He talked about what must have gone through Abraham’s mind when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He had to travel three days to reach Mount Moriah, and though we aren’t given any details, he had to have agonized about what he was about to do. He must have wondered why God would ask him to sacrifice the son he had promised him; his hope for the future. But there is no indication that Abraham ever questioned God or tried to bargain with him. The only way he could possibly have carried through with it was by putting his complete trust in the Lord.

 The account is found in Genesis 22:1-13….get thee into the land of Moriah...And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

 I'd recently spoken with someone who was struggling with an issue concerning one of his children. As I listened to the preacher's message, I couldn't help but think about that conversation, as well as the fact that there were some issues with my own grown children that I clearly needed to let go. It wasn't long before a song began to form. 


 You may wonder what this has to do with foster care or adoption. Well, at that time, nothing! But God has a way of using my own songs to speak to me.

This is an excerpt from my book along with a recording of the song:

As he walked down the road to Moriah, he knew what he must do.
Though he couldn’t understand how God would work his plan,
he went on, determined to follow through.
But this was his Isaac, his son;

his hope for the future, the promised one.
He had to trust the Lord, or his faith would surely falter,
as he lay his beloved child upon that altar.
As God’s word pierced through my stubborn heart, I finally saw the truth
I had failed to trust his hand, as he worked out his plan,
and I’d feared how he might choose to move.
Yes, this is my Isaac, I know;

the one thing I’ve held back, so hard to let go.
If I don’t trust my Lord now, my faith will always falter,
so I kneel at my Saviour’s feet before this altar.
Lord, I need your strength to give my Isaac up;
to lay all at your feet; to learn to fully trust.
Lord, I want your will, no matter what it takes.
Lord, I surrender all to your mercy and your grace.

   

©Deborah Bolack 2007

Pianist Apryl (Penner) Jennings

Soloist Randy Penner

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 Laying Down Your Isaac

 Although God has not commanded the rest of us to literally sacrifice our children, he does ask that we trust him to work his will and his way in their lives. Whether we are surrendering a wayward child to God’s mercy and grace, or a child who is ill to the will of God, there is nothing that comes close to the struggle this brings in the heart of a parent. As a mom, I want to protect my child from harm. Whether that hurt comes from their own disobedience or from life circumstances, none of us can bear to see our child hurt, and if we’re completely honest, we don’t want to experience the hurt ourselves; the hurt of losing a child to death, the hurt of a child rejecting the Lord, or what it may take to bring them back. But trying to stand between our child and God’s plan for their life only serves to distance us and our child from the very help we so desperately need. When we take that step forward and say, “Okay Lord, I don’t understand what you’re doing, or why this is happening, but I know you love this child more than I do, and I trust you to do what’s best,” and you place that child at Jesus' feet, he’ll take the burden you’ve been carrying, and give you a peace that you’ve never before experienced.                                   

Continued...Part 5

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