2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. (Genesis 22:2-3 CSB)
Look closely at what does not exist in our passage today. There is no hesitation between God’s command and Abraham’s actions. Even thought what was being asked was unthinkably hard Abraham’s faith and trust in the Lord was so strong that he simply acted on what God commanded.
I doubt there is any among us who would do this today. Not with this extreme an act. And, yes, Abraham was a giant of faith. He was unquestioning of the Lord and his faith saved him. He did not he hesitate when God asked him to act. There was no pleading with God, no second guessing, no questioning, no hesitation.
I am glad that God does not test us in these way’s today. Maybe there are some pillars of faith out there today who would act. But I think for most of us we would question our own sanity if God were to ever ask us for measure this far.
There are many situations where hesitation can cost us. Where when the instinct or motivation to act is so strong that we need to move without question. Now, I would be talking about good and saving acts not sinful ones. God will never tempt us with an act that is against His will or His plan. No, those motivations come from within or from the enemy and in them we surely should hesitate. We should question the rationale behind our actions. This is when hesitation is helpful.
Our knowledge of God will help us to know the difference and our trust in Him as well. So far as I know, God is no longer asking the faithful to sacrifice a son or daughter. However, He may ask us to sacrifice something that is dear to us like our safety or our wealth or maybe more often our way of life. This is where our hesitation can harm us and our fears can keep us from God’s ultimate good. This is where hesitation holds us back from God’s glory.
