Abraham was the father par excellence, but like gold, he needed to be put through the fire to become pure and holy.
In Genesis 15: 4, we see that God promised Abram an heir. At the age of 85, and with time running out, Abram decided that he had to make his own plan to fulfill God’s promise. With his wife, Sarai’s blessing, he took Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, as his wife and voilà Ishmael was born—the fruit of the self.
Abram was indeed the father of faith, but doubt crept in as Abram looked at the circumstances and at human inadequacies. He forgot for a moment that God is not bound by earthly laws like age in pregnancy, or infertility, or time. God is El Shaddai, the All-sufficient One, the Provider, the Source of everything.
Instead of turning to God as Sovereign King, Abram heeded to the suggestion of Sarah to take Hagar as his concubine, and thought that he could help God by doing it his own way. What Abram did not understand was that the promised son needed to be entirely a gift from God. God does not only want right things done; things must be done according to His will and His purpose and in His time; not according to human desires, ideas and plans. What seems to be wisdom by man, is foolishness to God. (1 Corinthians 3:19)
God always answers prayer. His answer is always: 'yes', 'no' or 'wait'.
For 13 years after the birth of Ishmael, God did not speak one word to Abram. Abram had to learn to grow in grace and strengthen his faith in the word of God. He had to come to the understanding that God's word and God's promises are the absolute truth that we need to rely upon. He had to come to a place where he surrenders to God as completely sovereign over his life.
So when Abraham was 99 years old, after he came to the end of himself, the Lord appeared to him and spoke to him again: “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect' (Gen 17: 1)...walk before Me and serve Me faithfully and be blameless.
God appeared to Abraham and revealed Himself as El Shaddai - the All-sufficient Provider and Source of everything! To know God as our Father, our El Shaddai, is the closest relationship we can ever have with Him.
Because Abraham placed his total trust and belief on God, and surrendered to the Sovereignity of God over his life, he was willing to sacrificially give the gift of his promise – Isaac – back to God.
Abraham finally knew God now as the source of his covenant - El-Shaddai.
He could now place the will of God above the promise of God.
He could now place the will of God above the gift God gave him.
This is total surrender to God as sovereign over him is the the deepest worship and adoration that we can offer unto our heavenly Father, our El-Shaddai.
To follow Christ is to lay down your life unto the Father; It is to give our utmost, our highest, our greatest and our best to Him. It means to surrender completely to the will of the Father and to accept God and the absolute Truth of the Word as sovereign over our lives.
Surrender to YHWH (God) as your El Shaddai, the all-sufficient Provider and Source of everything. Surrender your being to Him as Sovereign ruler over your life, your thoughts, your desires, your hopes & dreams.
Let El-Shaddai be Sovereign over our lives !!
Worship Initiative and Shane & Shane Unofficial Lyric Video: