Genesis 22:1-14 is a frightening passage at face value. Over the years, as I have walked with Abraham and his example in Genesis, I understand the place in life where this happens for Abraham. This was after decades, and probably a century, of Abraham walking with God.

He knew the voice of the Lord.

He responded quickly. In all of it, we have language he uses that speaks of confidence in the Lord. He tells his servants that he and Isaac will go and sacrifice and “WE will return.” When Isaac asked about the sacrifice, Abraham said, “The Lord will provide the lamb.”

At the beginning of the story, we have the Lord speaking and Abraham’s ready reply: “Here I am.”

Through Epiphany we had passages teaching on about the voice of the Lord. Samuel as a boy serving in the tabernacle learned to discern the voice of the Lord. Elijah in the cave at Horeb heard the voice of the Lord asking, “What are you doing here?”

And the voice of the Lord keeps reverberating through Lent.

And to us in this season.

Let my response be “Here I am.” And may it come quickly the more I walk with the Lord.

I was on a silent retreat for a day and one of the questions was this: “What do you want from the Lord in this time?”

My response was this: “You, Lord.”

This is the heart I want cultivated in this season.