Choosing Peace
Maybe someone close to you did something so horrendous to you, leaving you forever scarred? Or perhaps you have found yourself facing a challenge that seemed too arduous to overcome? In a recent devotion, I dug into each time Abraham built an altar to God. Following that same thinking, let's now look closer at the two altar experiences that his son Isaac had. These two anchor points in Isaac's life allowed him to see God as HIS great provider leading him to consistently choose peace over conflict. Before we look closer at Isaac's life, let me first take you back to the last fifteen miles of my first ultra-marathon race. An event that God would use to alter the trajectory of my life forever.
One, Two, Three... One, Two, Three
One of the earliest memories I have of God using my spiritual reset button in action was during the last fifteen miles of my first ultra marathon trail race. I have been blessed to complete four ultra-marathon trail races since 2016. Three of the four races were the Rachel Carson trail challenge.
Looking back on that first Rachel Carson Trail Challenge, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. After twenty-one miles, I could no longer run another step and was now faced with walking the last fifteen miles. You have to know that this is no ordinary race. It is called a trail challenge for a reason. The total distance of the challenge is 36 miles, comprising 8,000+ feet of elevation change. I couldn't have finished the race without my friend Seth walking every step with me, continuously reminding me that WE ARE going to finish this together. In addition to his help, every step for fifteen miles, I would repeat under my breath my spiritual reset button over and over again on a step count of one, two, three...one, two, three.
Blessed be your name
For your name is great and greatly to be praised
I sing praises to your name
For your name is great and greatly to be praised
In this scenario, my spiritual reset button allowed me to stay in the moment, push back the incredible amount of pain I was in, and end up on the other side of something great that would forever change my life.
The Life of Isaac: Seeing the Whole Picture
The life of Isaac is detailed in Genesis chapters 21-35. However, chapters 28 through 35 are really more about his son Jacob's story after he leaves his father's house. At the end of chapter 35, we learn that Jacob is reunited with his father Isaac for some time before Isaac dies.
As I was studying Isaac's life and the two altar experiences he had, it really helped me to look closer at the timeline of significant events in his life.
• On the day that Isaac was weaned as a young boy (likely three years old) Abraham holds a great feast in his honor
• God makes it clear that through Isaac, Abraham's offspring shall be named
• Likely somewhere in his early childhood to early teens Isaac is taken by his father Abraham to be sacrificed on an altar to God
• At age 27 Isaac's mother Sarah dies
• Isaac marries Rebekah when he is 40 years old
• Rebekah is said to be barren. Isaac prays, and God answers his prayer, and she has twins when Isaac is 60 years old
• When Isaac is 75 years old, his father Abraham dies
• At roughly 137 years old, when Isaac is old and going blind Jacob tricks him into giving him Esau's blessing
• Isaac sent Jacob away from their home to go to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from Laban, his mother's brother
• Isaac dies at 180 years old
Altar # 1 - The Lord Will Provide
"When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." Genesis 22:9-14 ESV
Isaac's first experience with an altar was actually the altar that his father Abraham built out of obedience to God with the instructions to sacrifice Isaac.
I can't even imagine what Isaac was thinking as his father Abraham was tying him to the altar and how long it took him to heal mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Over time, God began to provide healing, allowing Isaac to understand what his father Abraham was doing. Little by little, Isaac was eventually able to see God as HIS "great provider." At the exact moment when Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, God intervened and provided a ram as the sacrifice.
Altar #2 - I Will Multiply Your Offspring
From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake." So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well." Genesis 26:23-25 ESV
Isaac building this altar is sandwiched in between two stories about his dealings with Abimelech, King of the Philistines. Because of a famine, Isaac is forced to leave his home but is explicitly instructed by God not to go to Egypt like his father Abraham had, but to go where God leads him, which ends up being Gerar. After many years in Gerar, Isaac is blessed by God and becomes very wealthy. Jealousy grows in the hearts of the Philistines (who are currently inhabiting the land), so Abimelech, the King, instructs Isaac to leave. Isaac chooses peace instead of war and leaves to settle in the valley of Gerar. Then his servants dig a series of wells, and each time the people of the new land provide opposition and claim the water as their own. Again, instead of fighting, Isaac chooses peace and moves again until they finally dig another well that becomes theirs. Isaac names the place "Rehoboth, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land." Another way of saying this might be "the LORD has provided for us."
Isaac built this altar in response to God promising for a second time that he would bless him and would multiply his offspring because of the covenant that God had made with his father, Abraham. After this promise from God, King Abimelech, the king's advisor, and the commander of his army come to where Isaac is living. They acknowledge that it is clear that the LORD is with Isaac and has blessed him. They ask to make a covenant of peace with Isaac. Again, Isaac could have chosen to fight and refuse the peace treaty, but instead, he embraces peace.
Isaac's life challenges us to look closer at the anchor points in our lives where God had shown up as OUR GREAT PROVIDER. Like Isaac, we also have an opportunity to leave the past in the past by choosing peace over conflict. The question is, what will we choose?
Sample Prayer
God, you have always been my great provider. Help me to see all the ways you have provided for me. As I look back on my life, help me recognize the anchor points in which you changed the trajectory of my life. Let these anchor points be a reminder of your presence in my life, allowing me to push back the demons attacking my mind that continue to remind me of past failure.
Featured Music
Run Kid Run - My Sweet Escape
I love this song! It speaks perfectly to the idea of leaving the past in the past by finding your spiritual reset button. Lyrics like "This is it, confidence is all I need/ This is how You're going to save me from myself/ From all the fails/ I see You and me and everything in between" paint such a vivid picture of being lost, stuck or just far from God desperate for a way back home. Hope is found only as we "As I dance this road back to You/ A place of sweet escape I fell into/ My everything will always sing Your glory." When we arrive back at a critical anchor point in our faith journey, we can't help but respond with lyrics like. "Sing Hallelujah I'll forever sing to lift you up/ Sing Hallelujah I'll forever sing to lift you up/ You are my king/ You are my king."
About the Author
Nathan Miller
You may know me as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, mentor, ultra marathoner runner, NBA basketball enthusiast, fan of all things tech, music lover and writer. However, the life blood that flows through everything that I strive to be comes from a desire for greater intimacy with Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Provider, my Lord and most of all my best friend.