The God of Isaac

By Odon Bulamba

Exodus 3:6, God is talking about Himself.  He is proclaiming something that may sound a little bit strange, I am your God, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Imagine that God is standing up and proclaiming to all the nations, I am the God of Angela, Colleen, Tyrone.  How will you feel?

Today we are going to talk about the God of Isaac.  The God of Abraham was a little bit tough expecting Abraham to leave his family, friends and all behind and start to walk.  Sometimes God pushes us to do things that we don’t want to do.

After Abraham, you are to have a son and we all know the story.  You are going to have a child.  Abraham laughed.  My wife is over 80 now.  Later his wife also laughed and then later the child is born.  Isaac is called “he laughs”.  Whenever someone tells you something and you laugh, won’t they think you are mocking them or not taking things seriously.

I have been inspired by what the children of this school made for us.  We all know the map of the world, the globe.  God of Abraham and Isaac is for us.  You will live in New Zealand and that is where I want you to be.  You didn’t buy this land.  You didn’t go to see a mortgage broker for you to become a citizen of NZ but God gave it to you freely. Water surrounding you, fish and mussels and all that is in water, use it for you.

South America and North America and Africa and Asia are in their own place.  The children of the school wrote here on the wall, “Celebrations around the world” what do you celebrate?  God of Isaac or do you celebrate only your own life?  Do you celebrate all that God gave you?  Water, land, light, creation? 

Here we come now to the next question the children put on the wall if we remove the “y” and keep “part” and remove the e and t and keep the “plan” are you a part of God’s plan, yes.  You will be happy like Isaac and laugh, you have given this all to me.  When joy hits your heart, you can’t stop smiling or laughing.

Although you are late to get something or late to achieve a project or late in one or another matter, don’t be disappointed, God can still make a miracle.  All the countries on the wall are part of the game.  Abraham was the first patriarch.  Isaac second.  All of these nations on the wall here have drama of life in common.  We all go through those dramas.  These are good lessons that the children of this school have given to us.

Do you have elements of dramas in your life?  What is the role of dramas in your life?  Is it a drama just to wake up, to pray, to feed my body, to take care of my spiritual needs.  After knowing your roles, what are your actions?  Abraham now you have your son Isaac, what is your role?  Abraham is now a father and has to play a role in his family and be there day and night for his son.  It doesn’t matter who you are, you have a role to play, even a child has a role to play.

Children need to learn how to become responsible, how to do good things and what we teach them first is actions.  Our God loves us and wants us to look at our actions because only our actions will go with you on the day of judgement.  If you are not a good role model for yourself, you will have bad actions and those actions will either let you go to heaven or hell.

Your actions with faith, then heaven is yours.  Nothing to purchase.  Then God gave us space,  everything in your life is your own space, you want to pray, you are free, you want to complain you are free. Sometimes satan will step in your space like the garden of Eden but you have to tell satan, “my focus is not you, not what is attacking me but my focus is in God”.  Once you focus on something, time is not waiting for you.  Yesterday is the past and in two seconds we are in the future and in the future we feel the pressure in all areas of our life.  Two years ago life was easier but now it’s hard.  Tension in your life, workplace, family.

Here the children have written on the wall, “Walk of fame” are you walking in fame?  What does that mean to you?  If they will call those who are famous in God’s Kingdom, can you walk with fame and say, “yes, I am really the child of God,” or will you say, “I’m not sure, all the problems are on my shoulders” and complain.

Isaac who was the son of Abraham and born from a mother and father who were over 90 years.  How will they educate this son?  It was somehow a disaster but Abraham could continue to focus on his role. That made Isaac part of the declaration of God because his father understood he had a role to play and focus in order to be a part of God’s plan.

Isaac started to play with other children.  When he turns 8, his mother said, Abraham I don’t want Hagar anymore, she has to leave because her son is making Isaac’s life hard.  Because of you being saved, how many people has God separated from you?  We are all Isaac, those that show joy with laughing.  God will separate us from the world and they will become like enemies because of your faith.

Maybe you don’t have problems but in many families when you are saved, many will reject you and bring pressure and annoy you and attack you.  You may wonder, is this what is called salvation.  When you were born with brothers and sisters older than you, they will consider your advice as nothing.  When you become new born in Christ, the world will start to turn against you and God will separate you from other people.  That’s why Jesus said, if you want to become a Christian you have to leave all behind and follow me.

Isaac’s brother has now left and he has no one to play with.  Children need other children to play with.  Who do you play with as a child of God?  Who do you associate with when you are doing your daily activities?  Who do you share your struggles and joy with?

Here the children have written “beats” on the wall. God said to Abraham, “I will give you a shock, you will have to give to me your child, not only as an offering but to slaughter your own son because I love such a sacrifice”.  Even if your heart doesn’t beat on that day your heart will beat faster.  Angela, I want you to pick up your knife and slaughter your daughter Eden.  You will say no, this can’t be God.  The hearts of angels will beat because God will be worshiped today.

Here on the wall is written, “Rhythm” and the rhythm of the heart beat will be there.  Here is written “Pitch” and the pitch will make you sing low or high.  Sometimes when I drive my car, I play music and sing with children and if I stop the music, the singing will stop because maybe the pitch is not the same as the key in the music.

Here is a sad face on the wall and the child can be “sad” which represents these minor notes written on the wall or happy which represent the major notes on the wall. Maybe you feel sad because God is asking you to give up something.  How will I sacrifice this for you my God, my work, my salary, this is not a right rhythm for me.  Why are you attacking me God and we try to shut the mouth of God.  I know God you have told me 20x, it’s enough now but God will say, “I know but I need you to understand your pitch and the key you are playing in”.

When you pray when you are sad, your prayers are powerful because of suffering.  You want God to intervene and be the solution to your problem right now but when you are happy do you really pray and what pitch do you use?  “Thank you God but I did all the work so it was because of me that I have what I have”.  I gained $20,000 and my tithe is $2,000 but I think, no that is too much, I will give God $200.

Here on the wall is written “Tempo” and God looks at the “tempo”, “God I will need more blessings”.  The drama of life in the life of Isaac.  Many think that the life of the child who sings is a happy child but there are many who sing not because of happiness but because of sadness.  Isaac who has a father who is 100 years old is taking the knife.  Maybe Isaac thought, God gave me to this family and now my father wants to kills me.

If this happened in NZ it would be on the news and the police would be involved.  Maybe Isaac thought, “If you are my God and the God of Abraham, how do you allow my father to slaughter me? is that love?  You are allowing evil in my life,” because many believe that death is evil.  Sometimes God will come to you with things that are above your understanding and bring big challenges.

As you can see the earth is surrounded by 75% water and yet the earth survives, how does the water not swallow the earth?  The powder in water will disappear but not the earth?  Under the earth is water.  Why can’t water swallow the earth? Because God continues to give you the earth to live for this moment to understand how the earth is prepared for you so you as Isaac can laugh in the future.

Genesis 24, Isaac is 40 years old, you need to find a wife and you are not the one to choose but I will send someone to find a wife for you.  Imagine you are 40 years old and your father will find the wife for you.  It sounds awkward.  This means you have no right to say no, you have no choice, whatever I give to you, that is what you are supposed to take and live with.

God has maybe given you big cheeks or small legs and that is what you are supposed to live with.  God has given me a voice to sing, you are supposed to live with it.  Are you proud of what God has given you? 

Isaac is now found in front of Rebecca and he has to accept to live with her forever.  There are things that you have to accept and understand that it is a gift from God and you have live with it forever, good or bad, your choice or not.  That is challenging.  God puts us in situations sometimes that we don’t like.

Isaac was avoiding conflict so he left Canaan.  Whenever you come across problems do you deal with them or run away?  We are called to live in peace with everyone, fight for that.  Rebecca was seen as beautiful where ever they went and so Isaac (just like his father) told people, “this is my sister”.  After being kicked out of that area, God told him to stay there and I will bless you.  His first blessing was Rebecca becoming pregnant to twin boys, Jacob and Esau.

Rebecca planned a game with Jacob.  Isaac became blind.  How can God allow me to become a blind person?  Sometimes in your life you ask yourself, why you couldn’t understand that situation yesterday but now it is clear.  Because I didn’t know it yesterday, I made a wrong decision and God allowed such a think in Isaac’s life so he had to rely on his ears only.

If one part of your life/ministry is not good, use what is good and don’t stay in that situation forever because you will make a terrible mistake.  Isaac blessed the wrong child.  God informed Rebecca rather than Abraham who should be blessed.  Maybe Abraham thought, “Are you Rebecca a good friend of mine, why did you keep it a secret form me?”  Imagine you have your wife/husband and you know something like that and you keep it a secret and one day you reveal it to your spouse.  The spouse may become angry/disappointed.  God can speak to one and not another but you have to be ready if one has the message to listen and not think it should be me who received the message from God.

Isaac didn’t hate his child after blessing Jacob and gave Esau the last part.  When someone does something wrong to you, what do you do?  Do you forgive or keep hating them?  God of Abraham will bring you through tests where your own children will become a challenge for your life.  Sometimes even lie to us.

I lied to my parents and maybe you did too?  God is asking us to know how to live through the God of Isaac.  Accept your body, mind and soul as it is and accept that God can separate you from people. Who is the Ishmael in your life?  A true brother in your life.  Who is your father Abraham who tried to slaughter you?  Someone at your work will tell you, “No, you know nothing”.  They don’t want you anymore but be like Isaac, keep loving them, he kept treating Abraham as his father and he didn’t share the story with others.

Do you accept your parents the way they are? Do you forgive others and keep walking with them or have you decided, finish, I will take my own direction like Lot did.  God of Isaac wants to see you laughing no matter what is happening, be happy when you suffer and things go wrong, keep laughing.  Even when the situation is impossible, laugh.  There you will see how God works.

Don’t take the slow beat but move around and jump here and there.  Be happy when your boss is mean to you and then you become the light of the world.  When you are happy you shine but when you are grumpy you will be darkness and everyone will take distance.  But if you love every second and accept the situation as it is, you will see the glory of Isaac and Abraham. 

Isaac understood the place God gave him in Canaan.  You need to understand your place in the church. Stay there.