Prayer Call : Has Anyone Checked on Isaac?

Good Morning, BFB!

This is a day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today’s scripture focus: “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”” -Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We talk about this narrative in Genesis 22. Many have heard this story of the ram in the bush, where Abraham goes up to sacrifice Isaac and God provides a ram. We often celebrate Abraham's obedience. We shout God's provision because there's a ram caught in the thicket. But I believe there's something hidden there. In the shadows of those verses, Abraham is celebrated, but there's still a young man who walked up that mountain with him, with wood on his back and questions in his heart. That young man's name is Isaac.

I feel he is a representation of so many of us in church or going through life; the people that obeyed, that trusted, that showed up, but somehow walked away from the altar forever changed. Yet there is still hope. Here are a few things we see in the text:
 
First, silent carriers still struggle.
We see Isaac carried the wood but didn't have full understanding. He followed his father, but he didn't know everything. He asked a question but didn't get a real answer in return. So many of us are like Isaac — we're faithful, but silently we're still burdened. Many of us are carrying things that we didn't choose to carry. We've served in silence. We've been present — with family, with ministry — but privately we've been hurting. Just because people see our strength and our smiling, that doesn't mean that we aren't struggling.

God sees what other people overlook. God doesn't just notice Abraham's sacrifice — I believe He remembers Isaac's silence as well. He sees that we may be carrying the wood, and He's still not ignoring our questions.

What are you carrying today that no one else saw or that no one else sees?

The good news: We can tell God the truth — not the social media front, but the version we don't want others to know. Giving the truth to God gives us permission to be checked on, and gives us permission to check in on someone that may be suffering in silence.

Secondly, unspoken trauma still leaves a mark.
As you read this narrative, it never tells us what Isaac said after the altar. You'll see that Isaac is laid on the altar, Abraham raises his hand with the knife, an angel stops him, and they find a ram in the bush. But there's silence. They never say what happens to Isaac — and that says a whole lot. It reminds us that not everything we survive gets talked about.

Sometimes we walk away from hard places with no words to say, or we don't have the language for what we endured. Many of us are walking around with unspoken church hurt, unspoken family trauma, ministry wounds, and silent mental battles of our own that nobody has ever asked about.

But there is comfort in knowing that God doesn't need words to start the healing. Even if you've never said it out loud, God still heard you. Jesus knows what it feels like to carry something heavy in silence — He did it. Jesus, just like Isaac, had to carry the wood, but He promises rest for the weary. Rest is promised to even those of us who whisper in that weariness.

What part of your story have you been afraid to say out loud? Take it to the One who already knows all about it — Jesus. He still loves us in our ailing condition.
 
Lastly, we can survive it.
Isaac survived it — and you can survive too.
Earlier verses, before they go up the mountain, show Abraham with his servant. He tells his servant, "Y'all stay here, the boy and I will go sacrifice, and we'll be back." In verse 19, it tells us that Abraham came down the mountain, but it doesn't say anything about Isaac. His name is missing. His voice is absent. There is silence about Isaac — the one almost killed by his father in obedience to his faith — and then when he's supposed to come back down with his father, his name is not mentioned.

But the good news is: Isaac's story isn't over. We find out that Isaac shows up again later in the Word of God. He's alive. He gets married. He digs wells. That means something for us. Some of us may not have come down the mountain the same — but the glory is that Isaac still came down. He survived it. And you survived what tried to kill you.

You outlived the pain. You endured the confusion. You survived the divorce, the sickness. Some of us may still be healing — but you have survived it. Being here is proof that God is not finished with any of us. Our survival matters. Our presence is our power. Our futures are still unfolding. We don’t have to be perfect — we just have to keep showing up.

As we go through this day and this week, no matter what you're facing in life, take a deep breath and say: "I survived it. I'm still here. God has a plan for me."

A lot of us want to be Abraham. But the truth is, a lot of us are Isaac. So let this be the day that we stop minimizing our survival and start celebrating the grace that carried us through it.

It is my prayer that we check on the Isaacs in our lives — those that have been sacrificed on the altar and may be suffering in silence. Those who may have unspoken hurts and unseen wounds. Remind them — and remind ourselves — that no matter what we face, here's the good news:

God never left us. We survived it.
 
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