God Gives Tests

By Mary Vee

Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac lived rather well. They had lots of servants, lots of cattle and sheep, and plenty of wells. Who could ask for anything more? When everything is going well for us God wants to know if we still are really thinking about Him. Sometimes God gives us a test like our teachers do at school.

Abraham looked at the stars. "So many stars tonight."

The clear night sky showed thousands of stars. Suddenly Abraham heard a voice.

"Abraham," God said.

Abraham looked around to see where the voice came from. "Here I am."

"I want you to take Isaac up to the mountain which I will tell you and offer him to me as a sacrifice."

Abraham went back to his tent and thought about God's command all that night. Hours later colors from the sunrise peeked through the windows. Abraham sighed. "I can't sleep. May as well get up and get to work."

He put a saddle on his donkey and packed food and water. "I'll get the wood chopped and tied to the donkey then get the others."

When he finished he quietly went to Isaac's bed. "Wake up, Son. We're going up the mountain to offer a sacrifice to God."

Isaac stretched and yawned. "Can't I sleep a few more minutes?"

"No, Son. We have a long journey. Tell you what, you get ready while I wake the two men I've chosen to go with us. Five minutes, OK?"

"Yah, sure, Dad."

The group set out walking to the east. They hiked up mountain trails for two days. On the third day Abraham looked up the mountain trail and saw the place God told him to go.

Abraham stopped for a drink. He untied the wood from the donkey. "You two men stay with the donkey. I want to worship God alone with Isaac. When we're finished, we'll come back to you."

Abraham could hardly breathe. The walk up the mountain made his heart beat faster. Even though he was tired, Abraham decided he would obey God no matter what God asked him to do. But, this...this command was so very difficult.

Isaac looked at Abraham. "Are you well? Here, let me carry the wood."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, I appreciate your help."

Abraham used the rope to tie the wood onto Isaac's back then he led the way up the trail.

As they walked Isaac said, "We have everything for the sacrifice, except the lamb."

In between deep breaths Abraham answered, "God will provide for Himself the right lamb for the sacrifice. Look, over there, we're almost to the place."

What will happen next? We'll finish this story in the next post, on Wednesday. Stories like this are hard to tell because someone might not understand that a great ending is coming. I think this story is going to tell us that God wants us to always remember to show Him we love Him whether we're having a good day or a bad day. What do you think?