You know the story in Genesis 22, right? Abraham and Isaac had just set out for Moriah, Abraham having been assigned the task of sacrificing his son as a test of his faith. Certainly, the weight of the task ahead of Abraham laid heavy on his heart. Abraham had cut wood for the offering, and he himself carried the fire up the mountain while Isaac carried the wood and his servants looked on. It was verse 7 that caught my eye.

7-8: Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and the wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Now I have read that passage before, but never has it been revealed to me quite in this way. You see, God couldn’t have shown Abraham what His plans were – He couldn’t have given Abraham the GPS version of what would occur. Why not, pray tell?

Let’s say Abraham and Isaac were still hanging out at the ole’ tent. And God reveals to Abraham that he would A) take Isaac up the mountain, B) Abraham would bind Isaac, C) just as Abraham raises the knife, an angel will come out of nowhere and take the knife from Abraham, D) a ram will be caught in the thicket and E) the sacrifice will be made, and all will go home safe and sound. Left turn, right turn, left turn, 10 miles straight, then turn around and come back home.

And here was my Eureka moment: If God revealed these things to Abraham, would Abraham have done them in the same manner that God was expecting? In other words, would he have had the faith that God would provide the necessary lamb? No! Abraham wouldn’t have needed it, because he would have already known the outcome! He could have leisurely tied up Isaac, pretended half-heartedly to attack him with a knife, pretended to be surprised at the ram in the thicket. Let me put it in another perspective. Let’s say you watch Titanic (one of my favorite movies) for the first time. Ah, the ornate costumes, the love story between Rose and Jack, the drama unfolding as the ship is sinking, the musical score, the grandmother’s story of triumph after tragedy. A movie masterpiece. The first time you see it, it is one inspiring, breath-taking, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat event. And then you watch it again. The movie hasn’t changed any. But are you okay with taking a bathroom break in the middle? Yeah. Do you blink? Sure. Because you already know the outcome. Sure you still love it, but missing this snippet or that isn’t going to make a difference when you’ve already seen the show.

Thus it was with Abraham. If God revealed ANY part of His plan for Abraham, it wouldn’t have been such a leap of faith for Abraham, God wouldn’t have received the glory He was worthy of in that miracle, and perhaps, Abraham wouldn’t have been in any hurry to follow orders anyway since he knew it would all turn out alright. (Not that we as humans would ever do that.) Abraham would not have needed to prove his faith, and the miracle of the situation would have been less… well, miraculous!

And so it is with us, and, admittedly, me. God doesn’t reveal what our life path is because each miracle is just that – a miracle. A moment to trust God, to have faith, to get to know Him for who He is, what He does, and the POWER that He has… and in the process, to develop our walk with Him along the way.

Ah, Eureka moments. Gotta love ’em.