I too at one time partitioned the Lord for a son, and He blessed me with my son; when my son was an infant we took him to church and dedicated him to the Lord and the Lord’s service. I have raised my son up for almost 16 years, and now it is time for him to be ‘weaned’ – In two days we are taking our son an hour and a half – two hour’s drive from home and leaving him in a place where he can worship, serve and grow in the Lord.
I am very excited for him, and so very happy for him, he has made new, Christian friends, he loves this particular church and the pastor’s there – he has already been on local mission trips through this church as well as church camp, and most importantly he has rededicated his life to Christ while he was there. I know it is God’s will for him to be there, I know the Lord has a lot in store for him there and a lot of things for him to do there – I know these things, I do, I do not doubt them one little bit, my heart just keeps getting in the way –
This is where that ‘real trust, in a whole new way’ comes in for me. It is one thing for me to ‘know’ something and not doubt it – I know this is the best thing for my son, and I know we are going to move up there with him and be reunited as a family as soon as possible – but (there’s always a but) – I don’t know WHEN we will be making our move and be reunited again, so I am having to dig down deep and trust the Lord’s timing, because I know His timing is always perfect.
If you continue reading about Samuel’s life you will read about how Samuel grew and was in favor with both the Lord and men, and that the Lord was with him.
There is another story about a parent trusting the Lord with their son that the Lord brought to my mind tonight to comfort me. Genesis 22: 1-14; when the Lord tested Abraham by telling him to bring Isaac to Moriah and offer him for a burnt offering – without even questioning the Lord Abraham obeyed; he trusted the Lord, he had faith. In verse 5, Abraham tells the men he took with him to Moriah that he and the lad would go worship and return to them – did you see that? Return to them! That is faith! I want that kind of faith and trust!
Let’s not forget Mary – when the angel of the Lord came to Mary and told her what was going to be happening to her, he told her to call her Son Jesus, and that He would be Great, and would be the Son of the Highest, and that He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and that His Kingdom would never end ….. Can you imagine how excited and scared she must have been? Can you imagine her heartache and pain seeing her Son hanging on the Cross of Calvary after being beaten and spit upon, watching Him die, for me and you? THAT was trust and faith.
Even when we find ourselves in the midst of a dark valley or at a crossroad, we can always trust the Lord to lead, guide and direct our footsteps and to be a Light unto our path – it may not always be easy following what seems like a dark pathway to us, because we cannot see the whole picture, but when we take that step in faith and trust the Lord and follow Him everything works out for our good, for His good and for His glorification.
Part 2 of my testimony
