Commitment on Trial - Part 2

Welcome to the intensified Catholic child and family for Thursday, September 22. The pain of a difficult situation can be an opportunity for great spiritual growth today will learn how our walk with God can be strengthened when your commitment is on trial, let's go back and look at a ramp adjustable here he is not a memo this these 100 years old when Isaac was born of employee centerpieces.

I want to take your own Masson Isaac, whom you love. Imagine waiting 100 years. He's 100 years old when Isaac is born. He loves that he's the apple of his eye. His life begins to revolve around this young lad. He sees him as the heir to all that God is blessed with and remembering all silverback over the 15 chapter when God began to speak to him and make a covenant with Abraham. He said he was going to bless and peace as the stars of the sky. He's is that's the way your descendents are going to be the sands of the sea.

That's the way your descendents are going to be innumerable uncountable I'm going to bless you and he waited and he waited and he waited for 100 years old he was when Isaac was born. Now God says to Abraham, yes, Lord, take thy son, thine only son, whom you love to a place that I will show you Mount Moriah, and all for him to me. There is interesting what the Scripture says, because that's in verse two, verse three begins this way. So Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddle his donkey and took two of these young men with him and Isaac his son split the wood for the burnt offering Rosen with the place of which God had told I don't know about you but I think I would've wanted to get up the next morning myself. I don't think I would've slept all night. I would take your mouse up a long walk and I probably would've told God no sacrifice my own song killed my own such 100 years of age. When you gave me.

What about all the promises you made to what about all these descendents like the stars of the sky about this promise land about how the nations of the earth shall be blessed, and now you give them to be put into a short period of time and are you taking away you could telling me this.

Why God tell me why explain this to me why you putting me to this test while my having to undergo this. Why do I have to suffer this way why God and oftentimes what you and I hear dead silence. But you see guys never promised to answer why he's just promised to assure us of what that he has the testing under control and likewise he has given us the promise of his companionship walk with us through it. So it may be very perplexing sometime no reasonable answer very on time is seemingly unfair and unjust and almost unbearable. Can you imagine taking a knife and hold it over the life of your precious little lad whom you love, with all of your heart, with whom you finished with whom you've hunted, whom you taught all these things in God's is not what you take that life and drive it through his heart. No, not a one of us could do that without arguing and saying God unfair, unjust, unreasonable. This must be the devil's can be of God, let me say one thing to many people who may be listening the many voices today that are not God's voice anything any word in a voice in the message that you receive, regardless of who you think you receive it from tells you to violate one single principle of this book is straight from hell. It is from the devil Satan himself is the lot of Satan and don't you do it the many people today who think God told me to do it and they're committing all kinds of evil and sin and all kinds of crime and blaming it on God. You see, he could not say such a thing because it is absolutely against his very nature God never intended this man to kill his son.

He didn't. God would never have allowed that he brought Abraham to a point of his life of testing him.

He didn't tell them to kill his son.

He said you take him up and offering listen. He didn't say take him up and killing. He said, taking an offer him. God knew what he was going to do. He knew that all he wanted Abraham to do is to offer his son so that Abraham would discover the degree to which he was committed to Jehovah Elohim Yahweh at all. Not he wanted Abraham to know God already knew its perplexing sometime the listen.

Would you agree that the most difficult kind of hurt is emotional hurt that inside hurt that she struggling that goes on on the inside when everywhere you turn there is no way out and you struggle to his we struggle with when you are not committed to Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about somebody who's not committed.

I'm talking about those of us who are committed as best we know are as much as we think we are committed that oftentimes it is a very painful experience to be tested in our commitment and where we hurt is internally and oftentimes we have to bear that hurt, and nobody knows where hurting but us. Not only that what we have to ask is it what is it that makes me hurt on the inside.

When God knows I will do his will.

When he knows and committed to doing his will and yet sometimes, when the testing comes not think oh God, don't ask me to do that.

Lord surely you not requiring me to go through this God why would you do this to me at this point in my life Lord I don't understand this hurts so deep hurt so intensely hurt so deep down inside almost to hurtful to even explain to someone else that wanted me hurt is where we hurt, it is because God's being unkind to lose his reverie hurt but say for example that you committed to being obedient to God as committed as you know how to be and you see God knows your motivation. He knows how committed you are, where is the hurt wise the hurt. Here it is.

It is the genuine, sincere struggle of the saying of God who wants to do the will of God, but who feels that he's too weak or she's too weak. You see the struggle that's coming. You see all the consequences of that. Difficulty in your life and you think, oh God please deliver me. But you know in spite of everything you say it's coming. You see coming.

It's like standing on that railroad track and here comes the tremendous locomotive 60 miles an hour bearing down on you and you think stop stop stop stop stop stop and you know that all the hollering and the world stop and run.

You write a against mug and run you over. But I tell you one thing he let you hurt obscene sometimes in my own life and I thought, oh God, please, please, please, please, play God's is no. I want you to discover I want to show you something about you and I want to show you something about me. He knows where we hurt and you see here's what we hurt, we really want to obey God, but the flesh is so weak and what happens, we struggle, what goes on on the inside of us is this this tremendous battle between the spirit and the flesh will be obedient trying to be obedient struggling to be obedient, but everything is oftentimes is gripped with fear. We don't talk about and one of these messages how we resist and why we resist being committed to God the struggles there.

The pain is there and the pain I believe was surely in Abraham's heart, and you seek just because the Bible says will the next morning that Abraham just got up and got his donkey together in the wood and his son. They took off to Mount Moriah doesn't mean that Abraham didn't struggle.

Abraham was committed to being obedient to God. But Abraham was still a day you see Abraham said yes Lord, I'll take him up and offering. And I believe that Abraham believed with all of his heart. Even if I take his life. Listen, the sovereign God Yahweh Elohim, even if I take his life on the basis of your unconditional promise to me. You have to resurrect him off at all. That's why said to his servants, you stay here. We are going and worship and we coming back. We are coming back. We are going to return.

He said that that in the Hebrew that's what it says we're going to worship and with coming back. Then let's talk about the progressiveness of only show you something. Abraham's life.

You see, God moves us upward in our commitment to say this is a way he operates. He said Abraham, for example, in a pagan society. I want you to leave your family leave this land and going to land that I will show you so Abraham made a commitment to obey God to do what to leave his family and to travel in an unknown land as God led him step-by-step. That's a commitment he made yes got. I will do that. He brings him. Listen, this is how he progresses and let me say this that Abraham is the perfect man. He makes some terrible mistakes, but God said to them when you commit yourself to follow me. Even if you don't know where you going. When you commit yourself to follow me, and you have to leave your family and friends, but would you commit yourself to follow me about leaving it all behind and going where you don't have an idea where you go, yes I will. God said all right let's go listen that's way down here compared to Abraham. I don't want you to leave your son. I want you to offer him on the altar of sacrifice.

There were a lot of years between leave your family and offer you some you see none of us know really how committed we are, and was also about this is why just pray for God to send me trials. Not me, but I got enough about praying for mama. I'm not going to aspirin and ottoman advised he was the say Lord, send me trials and send the heart exist.

If you commit yourself to being obedient to Almighty God, he will send you his times of testing at the right time in order to do what lift you and your commitment. So here's what happens. God knows that testing is a time of stretching and that growth demands stretching and stretching means my faith increases and is my faith increases, I go on the Lord and is not doing the Lord my commitment grows and is my commitment grows, I become more useful to God. Moral listen as my commitment to him grows as a person become more valuable to God's great purpose in life. You know why so many people feel so purposeless, so empty so futile and so useless because, listen back here, God tested their commitment there still back in the kindergarten area of commitment. Yes, Lord, what is that you will all no no no no Lord I can do that and what else is that you want me to do. I want to do something when you draw when you say no to God. He draws the line that you may think that your way over here in your spiritual life on the table where you are is where you and I are. We are the last line we drew and when we told God, Lord Alderson call me for just about anything. But not that that's where you stop growing. You see, if you and I could just get God's perspective. He makes no mistakes. You see his army want to go, we want to say yes Lord oh yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord, and then all of a sudden God raises the level of commitment and reset all no Lord, no Lord, no Lord.

And so what we were there we say Lord I like it right where I am, just let me stay on this level you send somebody else to do that and just let me stay right and you know what God says nothing doing no plateaus on the spiritual plane. God wants to keep on going to see you know what he does. Sometimes we will take the step he just gives us a shout and he gives as a share of you can remember this, that is an expression of God's wonderful love to you not to let you stay at your children never said you'd some, like goodness gracious you talk about having to pay the mortgage and having to pay this and having the pay that instead of making a living.

You kids that bore I hope I don't grow up.

I don't want to grow up are going to face all of that. So what you said okay you to stay 13.

It will be fun. No you know they going to have to grow up and face the same things that you and I face some things in life. A tough, here's what I discovered, the tougher it is, the longer the stretch the more difficult the more painful the greater the growth in the understanding and the development internally of your spiritual life. Well, let's move on well is the Lord begin to deal with Abraham I want you to put on the next word performance because all of us are going to perform in one fashion or the other. As a result of being tested now here's what's going to happen the way you and I respond the way you and I respond when Eric commitment is tested is going to be based on this, that is, we're going to respond based on our understanding of who God is who I am, to whom I belong and why I'm here. When I understand those four things. It's going to highly affect my response to this time of testing in my life. Second thingamajig notices this. My response is going to be based on my genuine love and devotion to Jesus Christ… God knows when he present you with a problem present you with a time of testing. He knows that there is a.

I want to listen carefully, because this is extremely important. He knows there is a period of time when you first see the test coming you know it's there. He knows there's a period of time when you think okay now wait a minute, so you wring your hands you talk to God yard with a little bit you rationalize, you tell them it's unfair. This is not the right you go through all this and he understands that that is upsetting you doesn't say well you should not he did. He just listens let's us go through all that and it's all get sifted out but God knows this.

He knows if you really and truly love and that after you get through the haze in the fall and the maze of all the unreasonable unbearable and all of these attitudes we have to face. He knows that you're not going to say Lord I don't understand it. Yes, I will. I'm trusting you what I'm saying to you again because it's so important is listen to me. The struggle the struggle you go through is part of the blessing because what listen when you get in the heat of obeying God is that he tested your commitment here and you went through a great time of difficulty. Father saying okay God. I'm sure that's what you say yes I will be obedient when you get out there in the thick of the battle and all hell breaks loose on you. You not go off crumble beneath the pressure because you look back and think well one thing I'm sure of of the sovereign God who promised to be my controller and my companion throughout you see what God wants to work in your life in my life is the same thing.

He worked in the Abraham's life he wants us to respond properly. He tested, tried Abraham. It is my devotion to Jesus. Now I got a couple of options here, here, my options when I'm tested in my commitment, my options are trusting and obeying even though I don't understand what's going to happen or secondly I can become fearful and attempt an escape. Let me just say this to you simply as I know how friend it is always best to obey God and leave the consequences of your obedience to him. That is always not sometimes not.

Most of the time. Always, without exception, always the best practice just obeying even if you have to close your eyes and jump just close them and jump, but obey God at all cost.

You always come out a winner. Father, we thank you for loving us. We do want you to stop testing is because we want to keep growing. Wherever we are in our commitment tonight.

We know that in your own time. You will raise that wonderful level of commitment for you fashioning us and shaping us in your likeness. Father, we know that you forgive us when our attitudes are not right about the times of testing.

You know, when we want to run, but you know ultimately if we love you we coming back to say yes.

Jeremiah sent me this.

We thank you for in Jesus name, amen. Thank you for listening to part 2F commitment on trial if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley for InTouch ministry intact started writing this podcast is a presentation InTouch ministry in Atlanta, Georgia