Scripture
Genesis 26:1-6
Genesis 26:23-25
Each person has moments in their lives that are difficult, disappointing, unbearable, confusing, etc. Some have trials that are so much harder than others. That though, is something we all have in common—that life isn’t easy and we all struggle. That is true for everyone, even if you don’t see it or they don’t show it. Everyone is struggling in some way or another.
Isaac had some of those moments, the biggest of them being when his dad almost sacrificed him on the mountain when he was a kid. Now that is a big one. If I were him, I’m not quite sure how I would respond, how I would recover from that trauma. I wonder how Isaac recovered as well and what things were like for him in the moments and years following this. The author doesn’t tell us much there. It doesn’t seem like Isaac went home with his dad, so my guess is he went off on his own and made his home somewhere else, but I’m not sure.
So, if everyone struggles, everyone faces trials in their life, the thing that sets people apart is how they respond to those moments. I would say, the most important thing is how you respond to God. Do you let those trials draw you closer to God, or do you pull further away? God’s desire is that you would draw closer to him not just when things are going great, but especially when things are not going great; that we would lean on God in those difficult moments and seasons.
I’m not sure what Isaac’s relationship with God was after that moment on the mountain. But years later, after he married Rebekah, had his two sons, and they had grown up, we see a couple moments of the Lord encountering Isaac. There was a famine in the land, and the Lord appeared to Isaac and told him not to go down to Egypt, but to live in the land he tells him to live in—the land he promised to give to Abraham’s descendants. He promises to bless him there, and then gives that promise to Isaac that he gave to his father, that he would make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. So, Isaac stayed where he was.
Later in this chapter, the Lord appeared to Isaac again and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” Before these two moments, we don’t have record of God talking to Isaac, or Isaac talking to God. But God wants Isaac to know that he is with him and that the promise he made to his father, he’s making to him as well.
I love Isaac’s response to this. It says that he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. He pitched his tent there and his servants dug a well. Isaac’s response was worship. He built an altar and prayed, called on the name of the Lord. Then, he decided to stay put there, in the place where God not only spoke to him, but he spoke to God and called on his name.
Isaac went through so much in his life and he could have been bitter, angry, turned his back on God. Who knows, maybe he did all of those things for a time, but we do know that he didn’t stay that way forever. He listened to God, obeyed him, and worshiped him here. What is your response? How will you respond to God during and after the difficult moments in your life you will surely face? I pray that you will choose to draw closer to God.
Prayer
God, life is hard, and sometimes I just don’t understand it. Help me to draw closer to you in those hard, difficult seasons, even when it may not make sense to me. Help me to continue to worship you in the hard times, as well as the good times.
Questions/Journal Prompts
Feel free to use these questions as a guide as you journal and/or pray.
1. How have you responded to difficult moments or seasons in your life?
2. When do you tend to draw closer to God? When things are hard or when they’re going great?
3. Spend some time praying and drawing closer to God right now.
Songs to listen to
Spend some time listening to this song, reflecting on the words, and sitting with Jesus.
“Yes I Will” by Vertical Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrTv39-lG4M
“Even Louder” by ISAAC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z81U2g-HtM
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