GUEST WRITER
Speaker and Encourager
Tabytha Wynn
I hate the winter. The dark and cold season can leave me depressed, anxious, and moody. I have to drag myself out of bed, and everything I love doing I suddenly hate. People in the medical community call this reaction to winter “Seasonal affective disorder” or S.A.D.
What an appropriate name, SAD.
It’s not just winter seasons that can leave us feeling sad but seasons of life. Whether facing a diagnosis, losing a loved one, overcoming heartbreak, or learning to recover after an attack or years of abuse, dark seasons can make us feel like the world is dark and cold. It can leave us asking, “Where is Jesus in this.”
In Genesis 22:1-19, we read the account of Abraham and Isaac. God asks Abraham to kill Isaac, his only son, as a sacrifice to Him; I know, creepy, right? It’s important to note here that God most likely asked him to do this not just as a test of his faith, BUT I believe it was to be an example to us of God sacrificing His only son, Jesus. Let’s go on. Abraham takes Isaac, and some split wood up a mountain and builds a fire. In verse 7, we see that after the fire is lit, Isaac asks his father, “Look the fire and the wood, but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied in verse 8, “My Son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering.” Now my first thought was, “What a lair!” but I don’t think he was lying here. I think he did trust God enough to provide for the burnt offering.
As we read, we discover that Abraham kept following God’s instructions until he had a knife ready to plunge into Isaac. When Isaac is about to be killed by his father, an angel calls down from heaven and tells him not to lay a hand on the boy because now he knows he fears God above all else. Then guess what? A ram is provided for the burnt offering. WOW.
Don’t miss this, in the middle of Abraham’s faith being tested, his son looked around, and things weren’t making sense to him, so he looked up at him and asked, “Where is the lamb?” and Abraham told him that God will provide a lamb.
Brothers and sisters, God has provided us a lamb for all of life’s dark seasons; His name is Jesus! Are you feeling like Isaac in the middle of the situation, looking around at things that don’t make sense to you and wondering, “Where is THE Lamb, Jesus?”? Or are you feeling like Abraham in a situation where your faith is being tested, and you’re afraid, but you know God will provide for you “THE LAMB”? Maybe it’s a little bit of both. However you are feeling right now in the middle of your dark season, brother or sister; I assure you that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is right there with you every step of the way, guiding and protecting you, always.
Hello, I am a grateful follower of Jesus Christ, and my name is Tabytha (with a Y). I live in south central PA along with my husband and eight children. I enjoy sewing clothes for my children, volunteering at my home church with my husband, and digging into the Word. Being a mother with eight children has not been easy, but I'm grateful that my Father has given me the strength to keep being the mother He has called me to be. Even though my neurologist said I would never be able to memorize things, God has been healing that part of my brain, and I'm memorizing Bible verses and reciting them to my pastor. God gets all the Glory and is still in the healing business!
