Isaac

I have my Isaacs where God can touch me at the core. Why does Father do this? What is He after? Why is it that He seems to gain pleasure from my pain? Is this just my perspective and will understand it at some point in the future? Abraham experienced this kind of relationship with God. His greatest fear came upon him. Father asked him to do the unthinkable, unimaginable. And he did it. He died to Isaac. What, you thought Isaac was supposed to die? That wasn’t the point. Unless you take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of the kingdom. Unless you loose your life, you cannot gain it. The message of our Savior is a message of death. Sounds gruesome, doesn’t it? The yoke of Christ is the yoke of death. Easy? Only after you die.

This is theoretical-speak. How do we get down to the nitty-gritty, dirty, sweaty, bloody process of dying? It is not easy. It will take time. A long, slow, laborious death. There have been three or four times I have been touched this way. Oh, there have been several small passings but only a few significant death experiences. I really didn’t have control over it. It was not my choosing. I was lead as a sheep to the slaughter by the hand of the Shepherd.

The thing I’ve learned is that I mustn’t waste my sorrows. I must drink the grog and tip the empty cup over my head with a smile. I must listen to Holy Spirit and be submissive from my heart. I must seek out the counsel of my fathers in the faith. I must release myself to Father. I must let myself die. Then, by faith, I receive His peace and live completely free. Peace that passes understanding.

However, like physical death, it is a lonely road. Others can only go as far as the foothills. You must traverse the last leg of the journey alone. Only you can die for yourself. But you are not alone. The footprints you see are the Shepherd’s.