God, Where’s My Ram?

God, Where’s My Ram?

September 24, 2009, 8:38 pm
Filed under: Think About It, Uncategorized | Tags: faith, God, Jesus Christ, Obedience, trust

"The Sacrifice of Isaac" painted in 1602 by Caravaggio

This post isn’t for everyone. Not right now anyway. Some people need to hear this now, some will need to hear it for later, because chances are that everyone has been, or will be, in one of those “If-God-doesn’t-come-through-I’m-done-because-I-don’t-know-what-to-do” situations. Those situations push our faith and trust in God to the limit. They cause us to wonder, “When is God going to come through for me? Why hasn’t He come through yet?” I’ve recently, and honestly, still am in this situation. What I’m about to tell you is something God shared with me.

God will come through for you. Absolutely. It’s of paramount importance that you understand that He has a “ram in the bush” waiting for you. Don’t ever doubt that. But if he hasn’t shown it to you just yet, perhaps He’s waiting until He sees that you’re ready to do without it.

Look at the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-13 where the colloquialism “ram in the bush” comes from: God waited until the very last moment before He stepped in to stop Abraham. He didn’t interfere when Abraham was packing for the trip or even while he was on the journey. No, God waited until he was at the destination, had Isaac bound, with the knife raised high. It was then that God knew the full extent of Abraham’s obedience. He knew without a doubt that Abraham was going to go through with His instructions.

How often do we say, “I’m waiting for my ram in the bush,” but we’ve barely packed for the journey. Or perhaps we’re in the process of taking the journey, but we’re stalling for time, thinking that God will come along an intervene while we’re on the journey. God knows our hearts in those moments and knows that we’re not fully committing to walk out the plans that he’s given us. Rather, we’re using the fact that we’re “waiting for God” as an excuse for our lack of action and follow through. You may able to fool all your saved, sanctified, church friends, but God is not fooled by your lack of faith and trust in Him.

God wants to see that you’re obedient to what He’s asked you to do thus far before He gives you something else. Doesn’t that make sense? Why would we ask our boss for more work, let alone him give it to us, when we haven’t correctly completed what we already have? Yet isn’t that what we do with God? We say, “God I want this responsibility and this title and these blessings.” I wonder if God isn’t sitting there thinking, “What have you done with what I’ve already given you? If you’re not tithing off your $30,000 per year job, why should I give you the $300,000 job you think you can handle? We have to be obedient in the small things before He can give us the big things.

I said it before, but it’s worth repeating: God will come through for you. But understand that when God does choose to come through, miraculously, He most often comes through when it’s late in the midnight hour. He doesn’t come through when it’s late afternoon. He doesn’t come through when it’s dusk and the sun is setting. No, He comes through when the night seems to be at it’s the darkest — right before daybreak. At that time when it’s been dark for so long that you’ve nearly given up hope; you think He’s failed you.

Here’s the take-away: What has God told you to do that you’ve been putting off? Do that. Now. Be obedient with what He’s already given you. Don’t give up faith that He will come through for you, on your behalf. He will do it. But He wants you obedience first. He wants to know that you can be trusted with the little things before He drops the big thing in your lap.

{For more from Stuart McDonald, check out his blog on Elev8 and follow him on Twitter}

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