The Right Thing (Part 3)

You know how Abraham had to pass a test to prove his love of God? In Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son. He does it. He raises his hand to kill his only son and hears an angel of the Lord. Verse 12: "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

I am in NO WAY trying to say that my test was anywhere in the same universe as Abraham's. But right now, I feel like I passed a small test. I feel like God asked me to do something and I did it. He asked me to give up something because it had the opportunity to be wrong. I had to prove my willingness to do the right thing. I didn't have to do it for very long. I think an entire 7 hours went by before I felt led by Him to repair the situation. But I really think that God blessed and honored my willingness to follow Him. I think that the friendship I was willing to give up will now be even stronger and will be completely right.

Of course the temptation to turn the friendship in the wrong direction will be there, but I rely on God's strength to help me with that. He knows what He's doing.

Jeremiah 17:5-10
This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

Jeremiah 29:11-14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. . . ."