Embrace the Sacrifice

Motivational Monday with Allana

Why does God plant dreams within our hearts and then compel us to wait for their fulfillment? 

Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s miracle child. After decades of waiting and praying for this precious son, Abraham must have reeled in shock when the Lord commanded him, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2 ESV).

What??

Abraham had left his homeland and his father’s family—everything he had known and loved for seventy-five years—to sojourn into unknown territory where the Lord promised to make him into a great nation (Gen. 12:14). Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless at the time of their departure, but they trusted God enough to take Him at his word and follow where He led.

Twenty-five long years passed before Abraham witnessed the fulfillment of God’s covenant —twenty-five years of longing, disappointment, and seemingly endless waiting. Finally, when Abraham was one-hundred years old, his wife Sarah, now long past the age of childbearing, gave birth to their son Isaac (Gen. 21:5).

How, then, could God ask this of him? To sacrifice Isaac, his only son, his miracle baby? 

From a human perspective, the request seems inconceivable. Why would the Lord bless Abraham with Isaac only to demand him back?

And yet, Abraham obeyed the Lord and prepared himself to lose his beloved son.

How did Abraham exercise such radical faith? Hebrews tells us he believed “God was able to raise [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:19). At the very last second, God intervened, sparing Isaac’s life by providing a ram for the burnt offering in his place (Gen. 22:13).

Paul tells us that during those long years of waiting, Abraham “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised” (Rom. 4:20–21). Abraham’s faith had grown so steadfast during those twenty-five years between the announcement of the promise and the fulfillment of it that he obeyed the Lord willingly even when his obedience seemed to contradict the vow God made to him.

God richly blessed Abraham’s obedience (Gen. 22:17–18), and his sacrifice on Mount Moriah became a poignant foreshadowing of an incomparably greater sacrifice: that of God’s one and only Son.

As It Was With Abraham, So It Is With Us

The Lord often tests our faith by calling us to make tremendous sacrifices. Christ spoke plainly of the cost of discipleship, warning us that it requires a daily discipline of self-denial (Lk. 9:23). Those who want to follow Christ must be willing to sacrifice everything in obedience to God’s will (Rom. 12:1; Gal. 2:20).

But here’s the good news. Paul assures us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

What God has in store for us is greater than anything we could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:19-20), both in this life and in eternity.

Has God planted a dream within your heart that has yet to be fulfilled? 

Have you embraced a calling from the Lord, only to find all your plans put on hold? 

Does it feel like God has forgotten about your hopes for the future?

Worst of all, has God asked you to sacrifice the very dream He instilled within your heart?

Do not lose hope, my friend. God has not forgotten about you or your dreams. He is faithful, and He will fulfill his promises to you. 

I have dreamed of getting married and raising a family since I was a little girl. This is a natural and honorable desire, and yet, despite years of praying, I am still, at the age of twenty-seven, waiting on the fulfillment of those dreams. I’ve only been in one dating relationship thus far, and that lasted a mere five months. 

As I struggle to find contentment in my singleness, I take comfort in the reminder that God’s plans are infinitely grander than our own. I doubt Abraham fully grasped what God meant when He promised that Abraham’s descendants would outnumber the stars (Gen. 15:5). Even if Abraham could wrap his mind around the biological reality, I don’t think he comprehended the eternal, spiritual implications of God’s promise.

If God has put your dreams on hold, trust that He is using this waiting period to strengthen your faith and to bolster your confidence in Him. 

Even if He calls you to sacrifice the very thing you long for most, trust that He has your best interest at heart. Trust that He knows what He’s doing. Trust His resurrection power. 

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Heb. 10:35-36)

A Prayer for the Waiting

Father, grant me the courage to wait on your timing. Give me the strength to keep hoping when it feels like my life—my hopes, dreams, and plans for the future—are all on hold. Help me to trust that your vision is greater than mine and that what you have have in store for me is grander than anything I could ask or imagine. 

I love you, Lord, and I want to obey you. Give me the humility to trust you even when it means sacrificing what I long for most. Give me the faith to believe that you will fulfill your promises to me and that you richly reward those who earnestly seek you (Heb. 11:6).

Thy will, not mine, be done. In Jesus name, Amen.

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It was an honor to have guest author

Allana Walker

to feature this devotional on The Voice Piece! I pray that her beautiful words of encouragement strengthens all of our hearts to press on and keep going no matter how difficult things may seem. God is Faithful! If you would like to read more of her work, please visit her Substack at:

God Bless you all!

~Merissa