Abraham never intended to sacrifice Isaac. He always remembered, and counted upon, the promise which God had made to him. Through Isaac a great nation would be born.

“…I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you.” Genesis 22:5

He was not lying. He was not being devious. He was not doubtful. He was acting in faith.

What was going through Abraham’s mind? When would God provide an alternative, an escape from this outrageous, tragic dilemma in Abraham’s heart? What was he thinking as he took each step closer to the destination?

“Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” his son asked. “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

Was his heart anguished– or confident? He walked on.

They arrived. Abraham built the alter, he arranged the wood. He bound his son.

“Your only son, whom you love…” God had commanded him.

God knew Abraham’s heart. He saw, in Abraham, complete surrender, unconditional devotion, great faith in a promise made, and an anguished heart, all at this moment, as he “stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”

What, at that moment, was racing through Abraham’s mind? Great conflict would not shake the confidence he had in God’s Word; the promise which God had spoken to him.

“But the angel of God called to Him from Heaven…” At last, in that critical, final moment, relief swept over Abraham. An interruption; an alternative.

“Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

His faith had not been in vain. “For now I know that you fear God…”

He walked forward in simple obedience. He did not hesitate. He did not stray to another way. He walked forward, trusting completely in a faithful God to provide a way.

“Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns…”

There was always a ram, always a provision, always an answer. Abraham just had to walk far enough, trusting all the way in faith and obedience, in order to see it.

Am I withholding anything from God that would keep me from seeing His solution?

He knows the way. He sees the big picture. He has made provision.