In the Prologue of "When I Lay my Isaac Down", I read quite a few things that stuck with me. I wanted to share them in hopes that someone might need to hear them as much as I did.
"There are some tragedies that are too big for a heart to hold, and they defy any desciption that makes sense. Time weaves its way through the shock, the hurt, and the inexpressible feelings, and one day you discover that in the process of daily survival, you have instinctively made decisions (good and bad), defined your theology, formed an opinion about god, and determined that you will either durl up and die emotionally or you will choose life.
The terrifying but thruthful fact is that, in choosing life, you realize it will never match the kind of life that was in yoru carefully thought-out plan for your future. It will force you to view the people around you differently. the brokenness will challenge you to new levels of personal compassion. It will melt your pride, diminish the importance of your carefully designed agenda, and it has the potential to develop an unshakable faith that defies rationality..........There are times in life when all of us are called upton to make heart sacrifices. some of those sacrifices are things we choose because of a cause we believe in or a desired end that makes our decision worthwhile. However, most us will face an "Isaac experience," when a crisis is thrust into our lives without warning and without survial instructions. Our "Isaacs" are the heart sacrifices we make when we choose to relinquish control and honor God with our choices even when all seems lost. We have to decide if we will let go of our control over a person, situation, or event, or if we hang on for dear life and refuse to relinquish something we cherish...When God seems the most absent, He is the most present. He is in the middle of your circumstances whether or not you have recognized Him." (Carol Kent)
As I read these things, and that wasn't all the prologue said, I began to realize that we all, at one point or another in life experience our "Isaac". Many of us will experience more than one "Isaac", but the number doesn't matter. What matters is that regardless of what your "Isaac" was, is, or will be one thing remains the same. God knows your pain, your inability to understand or make sense of any it, our embarrassment, your anger, your frustration, your sadness, the list could go on and on with emotions you might be feeling, or have felt. But God knows, and as far away as he might seem, he promises us that he will never leave us. Our pain is His pain, our tears are His tears. But just like the song says, Then came the morning...I know that my morning will one day come, and so will yours. And anyone who has ever dealt with an "Isaac" in their own life will tell you the same thing if they are follower of Jesus Christ. The darkness of the night may seem long and endless, but I am choosing to put my faith in the One who created me, that the darkness will end...not in my time but in His perfect timing. I don't always like His timing, but I am learning every day that His timing is always RIGHT on time.
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