I will make You the basis of my trust, Lord. I will accept Your demolition of my security, even though it is painful. When I was a young Christian I thought everything was God—and. It was God—and blessing; God—and power; God—and fruitfulness. Now I see that everything is just God—and nothing.
Now I fully understand why God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22). God gives, but He also takes away. He must take away. God will not have me trusting anything other than Himself, not even a good, lovely thing like Isaac. God gives me vibrant health, then He takes it away and leaves me weak and clinging. Why? To show me where my ultimate trust should be. No sooner do I find something in which I can boast than God takes away the object of my boasting. Not bad things, but good things! Sermons, books, and articles tell me constantly that the Christian life is the greatest, the most exciting, the most rewarding life available. But they miss the point! They tell me God adds so much to me. As a result, my Christian life can become a shambles through false expectancy. What really happens is that God takes away so much. He continually removes from my life everything that would make me earthbound, self-dependent, or experience centered.
Why were so many of the Corinthian Christians “weak … sickly … and [dead]” (1 Corinthians 11:30, KJV)? Because a thing had come between them and God. God will tolerate no “thing” between Himself and me—even so dear a thing as my “Isaac.” But He will take nothing away without adding the larger dimension of Himself to take its place. Once I have given my dearest to Him, I will hear Him say, “Now I will really bless you” (see Genesis 22:17).
“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31)
Daily with the King 