Baffling, Sojourning and Dying

After all the years of waiting for a son, God told Abraham to sacrifice "your son, your only son, whom you love- Isaac" (Genesis 22.2). Dale Ralph Davis comments:

Abraham seems to assume that

though God seems absurd, he will prove consistent;

though he is baffling, he is nevertheless trustworthy;

though he is mysterious, he is righteous.

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In Genesis 23.4 Abraham says, "I am a foreigner and stranger among you."

 Davis:

There is a sense in which we must stand in the sandals of Abraham, confessing that we are sojourners and pilgrims. You must never forget who you are, how fragile and rootless and utterly dependent on God—and sitting loose to this age and all that it holds and offers. There is a certain and proper detachment that should mark us. Sometimes grief or loss or reversals can bring this mindset home with fresh force.

It’s not that [sojourners and strangers] don’t have any emotions or ambitions; but they do seem to have a holy indifference about their ‘stuff,’ a godly flexibility about the twists and turns their lives take, a sanctified nonchalance over making their mark. But none of it matters as long as we can say with David, to Yahweh, ‘I am a sojourner with you’ (esv).

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After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac.
25.11

Dale Ralph Davis:

These ‘after the death of’ words always seem to carry an overtone of anxiety and imply a worried question: How will matters go on from here? Here, in Genesis 25, the answer is: Quite well, thank you! ‘After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son.’ To be sure, Isaac was no Abraham, but then nothing ultimately depended on Abraham anyway. Not even Abraham is indispensable. God’s servants die, God’s promise-plan continues. The death of God’s servant does not signal the end of God’s cause. [Also see Joshua 1.1, Judges 1.1, 2 Sam 1.1.]

Whether it’s Abraham or Moses or whoever who goes, it never throws a kink into his purposes. And God doesn’t need first-stringers; he’s not dependent on a varsity squad. If he doesn’t have an Abraham, he can make do with an Isaac.

This really encouraged me and also convicted me of my tendency to put too much hope in a person and worrying/ stressing when that person leaves or lets us down. This very much speaks into our current situation and I'm so thankful God has shown me just at the right time that his plans are not thwarted by a person not being all we hoped they would be in building up God's church.