Proactive or Reactive?

The view from my office window this morning.

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.””

(Genesis 22:1, ESV)

This past Sunday we studied the story of Abraham being called to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Not an easy passage to process with the children. We spoke of the depth of faith displayed by Abraham and the substitution God provided in the ram to replace Isaac … pointing us to the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus in our place on the cross.

As some of us visited yesterday, we talked around what it meant to say, “Here I am.” Several main characters in the scriptures responded to God with these words … “Here I am.” “Here I am” … ready to listen, to trust, to follow.

As the picture shows, there is some snow in the air this morning. Too often I wait until the snow comes to “winterize”, but this year I feel pretty ready for it (at least my home and yard are ready for it … not sure I am). Too often I am reactive in my preparation for what is coming in life, waiting until it is upon me, rather than looking and thinking ahead.

There is something in this phrase, “Here I am,” that displays readiness and preparedness. God is not having to work to get his attention (although he did with Moses at the burning bush), Abraham already seems to be in a listening posture. He seems to have proactively leaned in towards God and so responds quickly and well to the Lord’s voice.

Are we working to live in a listening posture? Do we hear the Lord when He speaks, or does He have to get our attention before we acknowledge Him? What efforts are we making to be ready when the Lord speaks … ready to listen, ready to trust, ready to follow?