Genesis 22:13 Abraham looks up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a bunt offering instead of his son.
Have you ever been so laser focused on a task that you missed something obvious? I know I have. The other day I was looking for something I had misplaced (a common occurrence for me)! I spent a few minutes wandering around the house looking for the object. Then all of a sudden, it was right there in front of me. I had passed it several times, but had not seen it. It was flipped over, so I didn’t see what I had expected.
I really want to blame it on age, but this has been part of my life for many years. I miss things that are right in front of me. I think I get too focused to see.
This history-changing story of Abraham ready to sacrifice his son out of obedience to the LORD is filled with questions. Why would the LORD even ask His servant Abraham to kill his own son? Isn’t murder bad? How could Abraham even entertain the notion of killing his own son?
But the biggest question for me is this: How did Abraham miss the ram caught in the thicket? As Abraham and his son arrived at the place the LORD had shown Abraham, how did they miss the ram? Most rams, if caught in a thicket struggle like crazy, making all sorts of noise. Even if the ram had been caught for quite a while, when another animal or human comes anywhere near them, they begin struggling again to get free. How did Abraham and his son miss this?
I don’t have an answer. The LORD at other times has blinded the eyes of people so they could see certain things. Could the LORD have blinded their eyes and deafened their ears to hear the ram’s struggle? I don’t know. Could the ram have been operating contrary to its nature by not struggling?
We do know that this act of obedience by Abraham led to the renewal of God’s blessing on him and his family. Isaac was tied up and on the altar when the LORD spoke and provided. Imagine being tied up on a pile of firewood with your father holding a knife over you, ready to plunge and kill you. Issac certainly learned a lesson about the LORD providing, just as his father had said.
You see, the LORD does provide. It often comes in packages that we don’t recognize. It comes is ways that are different than we expect. But the blessing of provision does come.
And we can be that blessing of provision. There are those around us that have needs that we can meet, that the LORD directs us to meet. Just as the ram in the thicket was provision, so the LORD can use us to provide for the needs of others.
Listen to His voice. He will provide, not just for you, but through you. Are you willing to be a conduit of His blessing to other people?
The Arnold Journey 