Discerning The Voice Of GodSample

But don’t take my word for it. We go to God’s Word for instruction. In the story of the patriarch Abraham, we find both the value and profitable results of making plans to obey. 

Read Genesis 22:2-18.

Old Testament sacrificial rituals were quite laborious. The process was painstakingly detailed and time-consuming, not to mention messy (what with all that slaying and dismembering going on). But the succinct summary of Abraham’s activity in verse three, outside of the emotional torment invoked by verse two, makes the whole thing sound rather easy.

Yet the assignment Yahweh gave to Abraham could not have been accomplished on a whim. No haphazard spontaneity would enable Abraham to follow through on this mission. It was too arduous and meticulous of a task to accomplish without adequate preparation, strategy, intentionality, accountability, and dedication to detail. Each of these would be required in order to fully obey God’s directive.

Consider the following as it related to Abraham’s plan of obedience.

1. PREPARATION AND STRATEGY: The journey to Mount Moriah in Jerusalem required three days (see Gen. 22:4). This meant gathering supplies ahead of time for overnight camping as well as measuring out rations for food and drink, all in order to sustain the entourage as they made their trip to the place of sacrifice.

2. ACCOUNTABILITY: Abraham’s choice to bring two servants along may have been to provide help in carrying enough wood to build an altar. But, perhaps he brought them along for companionship as he carried out this difficult assignment.

3. INTENTIONALITY AND DEDICATION: Along with the wood, “glowing pieces of charcoal or other embers would have been carried in small pottery containers and carefully nursed along until a fire was needed.”

He refused to leave anything to chance. He didn’t just hope to carry out God’s instructions. He put measures in place to be certain of it. Abraham’s plan put him in position to hear what God would say or do next.

This may not be what we prefer our obedience to feel like. But this is what obedience looks like. When Abraham lived out his trust in God by making plans to obey what he’d been told, his faith was rewarded with the miraculous appearance of a substitutionary animal and the subsequent salvation of his son Isaac.

So what about you? What about me?

Will we, like Abraham, prepare to be obedient to God?  

To read more of Discerning the Voice of God, visit LifeWay.com/DiscerningTheVoiceofGod. There you'll also find teaching videos and other resources from Priscilla Shirer.