A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn’t hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff.

So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. “HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? “HELP!” He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.

“Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”

 

“I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?”

“Yes, but who are you, and where are you?

“I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”

“The Lord? You mean, GOD?”

“That’s Me.”

“God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”

“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you off from there, then we can talk.”

“Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”

“I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”

“Okay. Let go of the branch.”

“What?”

“I said, let go of the branch.” Just trust Me. Let go.”

There was a long silence.

Finally Jack yelled, “HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

This story reminds me of how God tested Abraham’s faith. First He asked him to leave his father’s house and go to an unknown land. “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:1-4). This was a risk, but Abraham, believing the sovereignty of God, obeyed and followed through.

And then the test of faith that left Abraham and Sarah with no child for many years, even after the promise. The promise was that Abraham would become the father of many nations through his own son. When God made this promise, Abraham believed it, despite being quite old and his wife having attained the age of menopause. However, It took a total of 25 years for the promise of God to Abraham to be fulfilled.

And then, at the fullness of time, the couple were miraculously blessed with Isaac, the child of promise.  After several years, God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac to which Abraham obeyed, but was stopped before he could fulfill it. What a request, you’d thought?

I suppose, Abraham, at first, must have felt like this young man who would not let go of his only hope -the branch – at least he could hold up to the branch until he gets someone else who is more realistic to help. I believe, if Abraham was to open up to Sarah or anyone else about his mission, he would have said, “God asked me to kill my son”

Sounds ridiculous, isn’t it? Humanly speaking, it makes no good sense that God would ask you to offer such a precious heritage as a burnt offering. But, amazingly, Abraham obeyed God, and was ready to kill his son. This is a hard thing to do! But whatever motivated Abraham to go all the way must have been his faith in God.

Indeed, religion is not a tool by which we get God to do what we want but an invitation to open ourselves to being and doing what God wants. God’s ways is never our ways. He works in ways we cannot see, as such it is only with faith and absolute trust in his character that we can overcome life’s difficulties.

No matter how wonderful your plans are it can never be better than God’s plans for you. His thoughts for you are good, to give you a hope and a future. With Him, there’s no risk of a thing! You can trust Him to handle your life, and give you an expected end. It takes faith to walk with Him. It takes absolute reliance on His promises to survive life’s battles. You are winning! Yes, we are winning!

https://yeswearewinning.com/2017/05/26/dont-swap-the-price-tag-theres-no-discounted-promise/

 

GreatMark

Anyone Else Up There? Source unknown.