Moriah Moments
About a month ago I had a dream and all I heard was the word “Moriah.”
I woke up the next morning and was going about my morning routine when I remembered that word.
I knew in my spirit that this word came from God because anything from him resurfaces in my spirit repeatedly until I pay attention. Sound familiar?
I initially thought that Moriah was a woman in the Bible that I overlooked.
After I dove in turns out Moriah is not a woman, but it is one to the most theologically rich and symbolic locations in the Bible. I had studied the life of Abraham, but in all honesty, geography is not my strong suit, so I did not recall “Mount Moriah.”
In Genesis 22, God asked Abraham to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Isaac was the son Abraham waited decades for so it can be assumed that Abraham did not understand the logic of why God would ask him to surrender his beloved son.
Abraham trusted the character of God and was willing to do as God asked. A moment before Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord called Abraham and told him not to harm the boy, and a ram appeared and took Isaac’s place as the burnt offering. Not only did God spare Isaac but because of his obedience and willingness to surrender his son, God promised Abraham to multiply his descendants beyond measure.
In that moment on Mount Moriah the Lord revealed himself as Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides.
How is Mount Moriah symbolic to us as Christians?
Well, at some point in our walk with the Lord, he will ask us to have a “Moriah moment” of surrender where we are asked to release our plans in order to open our hands to receive His. Abraham did not know that his willingness to sacrifice Isaac would result in multiplication of descendants, but he knew God would not fail him.
In human nature we have visions for our lives whether it be personal, professional, or both and often a timeline for those versions to happen but what if our version and God’s plan are not the same? We have a choice to tighten our grip or surrender.
Keeping the grip on our own plans will add a weight of discouragement that we are not meant to carry. Tightening the grip will lead us to live in a state of comparison. It will blind us from seeing the goodness of God right where we are.
When you loosen your grip on your own plans and have your Moriah Moment you make room for God to provide in unexpected ways and live in a place of peace where you trust Him more than anything else, no matter what.
If today you are standing at the base of your own Mount Moriah and you feel there is something God is asking you to surrender in order to trade your plan for his but you feel unsure, afraid, or discouraged I am here to tell you to take heart because God never calls us to place of surrender without a plan for provision.
After all, he is Jehovah Jireh the Lord who provides.