How well do you represent Our Heavenly Father? How often do you misrepresent HIM? Who do you know that fully represents Our Heavenly Father? Thus far, only Jesus Christ has successfully represented the fullness of the Character of Our Heavenly Father. The rest of us are at best a distant second… barely in view. What is missing? It isn’t knowledge. We have access to more “knowledge” than any time in history. I would submit that it is the fullness of the expression of Love. And after Love, it is wisdom- being teachable and correctible.
A beloved sister of mine told me a story of how Our Heavenly Father challenged her “belief system”. She and her beloved husband avoided being in debt. It was not Our Heavenly Father’s best to take on debt. However, they recently had the opportunity to buy a property that required going into debt. They knew they were to buy the property but it would require taking out a loan. They were not young in the world’s eyes and it seemed unusual to take out debt at this stage of life. At any rate, she asked for a confirmation. At the last minute, Our Heavenly Father spoke a word to her “Prove Me”. Okay, two words. When she further inquired for an example in Scripture, HE said “Look at Abraham.”
Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”
3 For the LORD will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the LORD;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Abraham did not believe in human sacrifice. After all, Our Heavenly Father established the Covenant with Abraham using animal sacrifice in Genesis 15. It was now time to test Abraham’s “belief system”:
Genesis 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Oops! A human sacrifice? Did Our Heavenly Father draw Abraham out of his comfort zone? Was Abraham willing to step out of his current beliefs and obey the Voice of Our Heavenly Father? We know the rest of the story. The Son of Promise survived the trip to the top of the mountain. Our Heavenly Father’s testing of Abraham exposed the commitment to the Covenant. Abraham passed the test and this test was a type and shadow of Our Heavenly Father’s willingness to put HIS Son on the altar.
When Our Heavenly Father challenges your belief system, know that HIS Divine Intent is at work. Trust that HE knows what needs to be done in order that you may ascend to a higher level of maturity. You must place on the altar whatever HE commands of you. As you do, your level of misrepresentation will decrease. At some point, people will see Christ in you and your belief system will be modified to HIS Divine Intent.