“Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah.
Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Genesis 22:9
Has God ever asked you to do something so nuts-o that you couldn’t tell anyone about it? I mean, folk would seriously have you committed, or arrested, if they knew. Something so radical, that you had to do it first, or at least make an irreversible commitment, before even hinting to anyone about it.
Sure you consulted God’s Word and your “go-to” Godly counsel people (I hope) to make sure you weren’t completely out of your mind, but after that, you told no one.
Well that’s what happened to Abraham. He had a secret mission from God that he literally told no one about. Because they would’ve locked him up! Of course I’m talking about the infamous story where God provided a ram in the bush (Genesis 22) to sacrifice instead of his son. The son they prayed for all those years, the son of the promise, the son through whom a bunch of Ancestry.com leaves are supposed to come.
Y’all know he didn’t tell that boy’s mamma where he was going that day! And when it was over; after Abraham untied his son, you know he told him, “Now don’t tell you mom what happened today and we’ll stop and get Fig Newton’s on the way home.” Let my husband tell me God told him to kill my son. I do not think so!
Just as a side note, I wonder if Isaac looked at his dad differently after that adventure. I mean, if my dad tied me up, held a knife over me and was about to “sacrifice” me, I’m not going no where else with dad. EVER!
Anyway, here’s a few examples of why you just can’t tell people the sometimes strange things God asks you to do.
Once God led me to walk 60 miles in 3 days in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. A worthy cause right? When I told people what I was doing, after I signed up by the way, although most people were supportive, I was met with some negative responses like “Why are you doing that?” and “Humph! I couldn’t do that. That’s doing too much.” Then, earlier this year, I told someone really close to me that I was doing The Daniel Fast, and they said, “Oh yeah? Well we’ll see how that goes.”
Really? I mean can a sista get some love here?
The point is, as you’re fasting this Lenten season, whatever it entails, tell only those people who are sure to support and encourage you. There will be some days when you’ll need to be uplifted and some when you’ll need some accountability. But whatever you do, don’t tell the naysayers.
If, by chance, you’ve already been unfortunate enough to have made that mistake, it’s okay. Acknowledge that they hurt your feelings for not being supportive, choose not to talk to them about it anymore and don’t hold it against them.
Once it’s all over, you can have some Fig Newtons.
(Contributing Writer: Marlena Patterson)