| “SOMETHING ELSE IN THE BUSHES” Genesis 22:1-14; Romans 8:28-39 Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA © Rev. Linda Jaymes, 09/06/09 |
One of the best small group studies I’m familiar with (and which I hope we might think about doing here after Christmas)
is called “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. These two authors suggest that when things don’t go the
way we would like or expect, or when our faith calls us to lives of difficulty and sacrifice, God always has “something else in
the bushes,” something even better than we had planned or imagined. This image is taken from the story of Abraham and his
beloved son Isaac, which we heard in this morning’s Old Testament reading. God had asked Abraham to sacrifice the most
precious thing in his life, his son Isaac, the son he loved, the son God had promised when Abraham was 75 years old and the
son for whom Abraham and Sarah had awaited for 25 years.
In the narrative, we don’t see Abraham questioning God or shaking his fist at Him, but surely those kinds of thoughts filled
his mind. After all, it had taken a miracle of God to get this son, as well as all those years of waiting for God’s promise to be
fulfilled. God had promised that Abraham would become the father of many nations, the man through whom all the nations of
the earth would be blessed. But how could that promise possibly come true if Isaac did not grow up and have children of his
own? Thoughts like these had to be going through Abraham’s mind. Yet whatever Abraham was thinking, what he did was to
trust in the God who had brought him this far. Perhaps he hoped and prayed for some kind of rescue, some kind of reprieve
from this dastardly task, even if it came at the last minute.
And it did. We heard how Abraham took Isaac up the mountain, built an altar, bound Isaac and laid him on top of the
wood. He even got out his knife and prepared to sacrifice this precious son, but God sent an angel to intervene. The angel
called out just in time to stop Abraham, telling him that because he had not withheld his only son, he proved his love and fear
and obedience to God. And that is the point at which Abraham discovered that God has something else in the bushes, a more
appropriate sacrifice than Isaac, the son of the promise.
We could spend a lot of time dissecting this story and questioning why Abraham did what he did or if Abraham was,
perhaps, stark raving mad. Or maybe he had just succumbed to the influence of other tribes in that part of the world who
actually did sacrifice children to their God, Molech. I still remember how disgusted I was in seminary when one of my
professors took this wonderful story of human faith combined with God’s providence and sovereignty, and suggested that it is
instead a ghastly tale of child abuse that should never be used as a model for faith. Ever since then, I have been unable to
preach on this text without making some kind of blanket disclaimer to the effect that God never calls us to abuse or mistreat
children or anyone else, for that matter. I think what my professor overlooked in this story is its opening line, which tells us
that this was a test for Abraham. Abraham didn’t realize it, but it was never God’s intention that Isaac be sacrificed and Isaac
was never really in harm’s way. There was never a moment when God was not in control.
Now that we have established that, maybe we can focus on what this story is really about and what it has to do with us.
What I want to suggest is that metaphorically speaking, Abraham’s story is our story. If we are trying to live a life of faith and
obedience as Abraham did, we are going to be tested, too, and probably not just once! The tests won’t look exactly like
Abraham’s, but they may be just as difficult. And just as it was for Abraham, the challenge is to trust God when we can’t see
how the test is going to end. The challenge is to believe that no matter how difficult or confusing or terrifying life’s current
trials are, God always has something else in the bushes.
The Apostle Paul tells us much the same thing, although he says it in a very different way. Paul says, “we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” After John 3:16 and
the 23rd Psalm, this is probably one of the most popular scriptures in the Bible. In fact, it is used so often and so often over-
used that it has almost become trite. Some have even been led to believe that it teaches us that all things happen for good,
which is just plain absurd. All things that happen are not good. In fact, some things that happen are bad, very bad. Children
die of cancer—or worse. Violence abounds. Terrorists attack and planes crash. Relationships break apart. Businesses fail.
Stock markets plunge. Ever since humans rebelled against God and fell from grace, it has been very clear that not all things
happen for good.
BUT—and this is a very big but—for those who love God and are called, as Abraham was, to be his people and participate
in his plan and purposes, God is working for good in all things, whether those things are good or bad. And when those things
are bad, God always has something else in the bushes. God can take the bad, the uncertain, the frustrating, and the things that
test us to the limit of our resources and endurance, and He can provide a solution, perhaps an answer we never would have
dreamed of, or an alternative we never would have considered. God always has something else in the bushes to help
overcome and compensate for our difficulties and trials in order to bring about his best purposes in the lives of those who love
Him.
I think that most people who throw in their lot with God, like Abraham did, find that once they’ve been on this faith
journey for a while, they are able to look back and recognize the times when God had something else in the bushes. Perhaps
we might wish that we could see what’s in the bushes while we’re going through the difficult times, but that’s not usually the
way God works. That’s why it’s called faith and trust and hope. But once we have experienced this phenomenon and have
“lived to tell the tale,” our stories of faith can be very helpful and encouraging in times of testing or trial, both for us and others.
I am reminded of the testimony Suzanne Brown shared at First Wednesday Prayer Service in July. She had been employed
as the Director of Pharmacy by the Temple University Health System for her entire career, and was counting on tuition benefits
for Haley’s college education. But Temple Children’s Hospital closed and then NE Hospital closed and all those promised
benefits went out the window. But in God’s perfect timing and wonderful plan, the door opened for Suzanne to become the
Director of Pharmacy at Pennsylvania Hospital, a position which includes tuition benefits at The University of Pennsylvania, an
Ivy League school. This is a perfect example of how God took a real crisis and turned it into an opportunity for something
even better than Suzanne had ever dreamed.
Let me give you another example. In the middle of Main Street in Enterprise, Alabama, stands one of the strangest
monuments in the world: a memorial to an insect! Handsomely carved in stone is the likeness of a boll weevil, and many
believe that Divine Providence was involved in the circumstances that led to the erection of this unusual statue. Apparently,
back in plantation days the livelihood of that entire community depended on the cotton crop. But in 1915, small beetles started
infesting the area, ruining the cotton bolls before they were mature enough to harvest. By 1918 farmers were losing their entire
crop to the beetles.
But it was this dire situation that inspired George Washington Carver and several other scientists to begin intensive studies
to see if any substitute crop could be grown in that part of the country. It turned out that raising peanuts was the answer, for
they could be planted and harvested with very little loss. Soon the farmers' profits far exceeded what they had earned from
their best cotton yield, and in the end, they realized that the destructive insect they had feared had actually triggered the research
that brought them prosperity…or what I would call Romans 8:28 in action.
Then there is the story of famous blind songwriter Fanny Crosby, who wrote more than 8,000 songs. Writing about her
in his book Victorious Christian, Warren Wiersbe explained that when Fanny was only 6 weeks old a minor eye inflammation
developed. But the doctor who treated the case was careless, and she became totally and permanently blind. But Fanny
Crosby harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said of him, "If I could meet him now, I would say
thank you, over and over again for making me blind." She felt that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the
hymns that flowed from her pen. According to those who knew her, Miss Crosby probably would have refused treatment even
if it could have restored her sight. Another blind hymn writer, George Matheson, said that God made him blind so he could see
clearly in other ways and become a guide to men. This same tribute could be applied to Fanny Crosby, who considered her
handicap to be used to the glory of God.” She regarded it as something else in the bushes and God’s best plan for her life.
These stories could go on and on, like the one about the boy in Decatur, Illinois, who was deeply interested in
photography. He answered an ad in a magazine, ordering a book on the subject. But the publisher made a mistake and sent him
instead a book about magic and ventriloquism, and so he began practicing the art of throwing his voice. He created a wooden
dummy to whom, at one time, millions of people listened on Sunday evenings -- Charlie McCarthy. God had something else in
the bushes for Edgar Bergen, and turned a mistake into a fabulous career. And then there’s James Whistler, the renowned
artist, who wanted more than anything to be a soldier. He even entered West Point as a cadet. But he failed the chemistry
exam. Later he joked about the one wrong answer that had meant the difference between passing and failing. He said, "If
silicon had been a gas, I would have been a major general instead of an artist." Both Edgar Bergen and James Whistler had to
sacrifice their precious dreams, but God had something else in the bushes that was even better than what they had planned.
Lastly, there is the story of the man that had learned to be especially careful about small things, like a pair of socks that
changed the entire course of his life. He had planned to take a trip with some of his friends on a canal boat, but two days
before they intended to leave, he injured his foot while chopping wood. It was only a small cut, but the blue dye in the
homemade socks he wore poisoned the wound, and he had to stay at home. While his friends were on their journey, a
powerful preacher came to town to hold revival meetings. And since he didn't have anything else to do, he decided to attend.
The message touched him deeply, and as a result, he surrendered his heart to the Lord. Afterward he saw the need to change
his life in many ways. New desires and purposes took hold of him. He determined to seek an education, for he trusted that it
would enable him to live more usefully for his Lord. The man was none other than the former President of the United States,
James A. Garfield!
Granted, we don’t know whether every one of these examples involves a person who loves and trusts God. But if God
works to bring something good out of the bushes for those who may not even love and trust Him, how much more will God
work to do that for those who do? And if we are among those who love God, how much more can we trust that whatever our
current trials and dilemmas, God has something else in the bushes ready and waiting for God’s time and his good purposes in
our lives?
The Lord often allows trials to unsettle our lives for a blessed purpose. Perhaps we are trying to "grow cotton" when we
should be "raising peanuts." Perhaps we are trying to become soldiers when God has gifted us to be great artists. Perhaps we
are wallowing in sorrow over illness, blindness or a broken heart, when God wants to use these difficult experiences for his
glory and our own good. If so, we need to remember Abraham’s story and trust that God has something else—something
good—something more appropriate in the bushes to meet our every need. God’s plans and purposes are always better than
ours, and like Abraham, we need to trust God’s faithfulness and his love for us.
After all, while we were yet sinners and unable to save ourselves, while Satan had us bound on the altar of death with a
knife to our throats, God had something else in the bushes: even Jesus Christ our Lord. He was the appropriate sacrifice, the
perfect sacrifice, the only One who could deliver us from evil and save us from ourselves. On the Cross, God proved that
whatever heartaches and sorrows and trials and disappointments this life may bring, we can trust that Jesus Christ is always
waiting in the bushes for us. And if we love God, He will never stop working to bring about his good purposes in our lives
now, as well as a life of unending goodness in eternity, because of the sacrifice of his one and only, precious, beloved Son:
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray.
is called “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. These two authors suggest that when things don’t go the
way we would like or expect, or when our faith calls us to lives of difficulty and sacrifice, God always has “something else in
the bushes,” something even better than we had planned or imagined. This image is taken from the story of Abraham and his
beloved son Isaac, which we heard in this morning’s Old Testament reading. God had asked Abraham to sacrifice the most
precious thing in his life, his son Isaac, the son he loved, the son God had promised when Abraham was 75 years old and the
son for whom Abraham and Sarah had awaited for 25 years.
In the narrative, we don’t see Abraham questioning God or shaking his fist at Him, but surely those kinds of thoughts filled
his mind. After all, it had taken a miracle of God to get this son, as well as all those years of waiting for God’s promise to be
fulfilled. God had promised that Abraham would become the father of many nations, the man through whom all the nations of
the earth would be blessed. But how could that promise possibly come true if Isaac did not grow up and have children of his
own? Thoughts like these had to be going through Abraham’s mind. Yet whatever Abraham was thinking, what he did was to
trust in the God who had brought him this far. Perhaps he hoped and prayed for some kind of rescue, some kind of reprieve
from this dastardly task, even if it came at the last minute.
And it did. We heard how Abraham took Isaac up the mountain, built an altar, bound Isaac and laid him on top of the
wood. He even got out his knife and prepared to sacrifice this precious son, but God sent an angel to intervene. The angel
called out just in time to stop Abraham, telling him that because he had not withheld his only son, he proved his love and fear
and obedience to God. And that is the point at which Abraham discovered that God has something else in the bushes, a more
appropriate sacrifice than Isaac, the son of the promise.
We could spend a lot of time dissecting this story and questioning why Abraham did what he did or if Abraham was,
perhaps, stark raving mad. Or maybe he had just succumbed to the influence of other tribes in that part of the world who
actually did sacrifice children to their God, Molech. I still remember how disgusted I was in seminary when one of my
professors took this wonderful story of human faith combined with God’s providence and sovereignty, and suggested that it is
instead a ghastly tale of child abuse that should never be used as a model for faith. Ever since then, I have been unable to
preach on this text without making some kind of blanket disclaimer to the effect that God never calls us to abuse or mistreat
children or anyone else, for that matter. I think what my professor overlooked in this story is its opening line, which tells us
that this was a test for Abraham. Abraham didn’t realize it, but it was never God’s intention that Isaac be sacrificed and Isaac
was never really in harm’s way. There was never a moment when God was not in control.
Now that we have established that, maybe we can focus on what this story is really about and what it has to do with us.
What I want to suggest is that metaphorically speaking, Abraham’s story is our story. If we are trying to live a life of faith and
obedience as Abraham did, we are going to be tested, too, and probably not just once! The tests won’t look exactly like
Abraham’s, but they may be just as difficult. And just as it was for Abraham, the challenge is to trust God when we can’t see
how the test is going to end. The challenge is to believe that no matter how difficult or confusing or terrifying life’s current
trials are, God always has something else in the bushes.
The Apostle Paul tells us much the same thing, although he says it in a very different way. Paul says, “we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” After John 3:16 and
the 23rd Psalm, this is probably one of the most popular scriptures in the Bible. In fact, it is used so often and so often over-
used that it has almost become trite. Some have even been led to believe that it teaches us that all things happen for good,
which is just plain absurd. All things that happen are not good. In fact, some things that happen are bad, very bad. Children
die of cancer—or worse. Violence abounds. Terrorists attack and planes crash. Relationships break apart. Businesses fail.
Stock markets plunge. Ever since humans rebelled against God and fell from grace, it has been very clear that not all things
happen for good.
BUT—and this is a very big but—for those who love God and are called, as Abraham was, to be his people and participate
in his plan and purposes, God is working for good in all things, whether those things are good or bad. And when those things
are bad, God always has something else in the bushes. God can take the bad, the uncertain, the frustrating, and the things that
test us to the limit of our resources and endurance, and He can provide a solution, perhaps an answer we never would have
dreamed of, or an alternative we never would have considered. God always has something else in the bushes to help
overcome and compensate for our difficulties and trials in order to bring about his best purposes in the lives of those who love
Him.
I think that most people who throw in their lot with God, like Abraham did, find that once they’ve been on this faith
journey for a while, they are able to look back and recognize the times when God had something else in the bushes. Perhaps
we might wish that we could see what’s in the bushes while we’re going through the difficult times, but that’s not usually the
way God works. That’s why it’s called faith and trust and hope. But once we have experienced this phenomenon and have
“lived to tell the tale,” our stories of faith can be very helpful and encouraging in times of testing or trial, both for us and others.
I am reminded of the testimony Suzanne Brown shared at First Wednesday Prayer Service in July. She had been employed
as the Director of Pharmacy by the Temple University Health System for her entire career, and was counting on tuition benefits
for Haley’s college education. But Temple Children’s Hospital closed and then NE Hospital closed and all those promised
benefits went out the window. But in God’s perfect timing and wonderful plan, the door opened for Suzanne to become the
Director of Pharmacy at Pennsylvania Hospital, a position which includes tuition benefits at The University of Pennsylvania, an
Ivy League school. This is a perfect example of how God took a real crisis and turned it into an opportunity for something
even better than Suzanne had ever dreamed.
Let me give you another example. In the middle of Main Street in Enterprise, Alabama, stands one of the strangest
monuments in the world: a memorial to an insect! Handsomely carved in stone is the likeness of a boll weevil, and many
believe that Divine Providence was involved in the circumstances that led to the erection of this unusual statue. Apparently,
back in plantation days the livelihood of that entire community depended on the cotton crop. But in 1915, small beetles started
infesting the area, ruining the cotton bolls before they were mature enough to harvest. By 1918 farmers were losing their entire
crop to the beetles.
But it was this dire situation that inspired George Washington Carver and several other scientists to begin intensive studies
to see if any substitute crop could be grown in that part of the country. It turned out that raising peanuts was the answer, for
they could be planted and harvested with very little loss. Soon the farmers' profits far exceeded what they had earned from
their best cotton yield, and in the end, they realized that the destructive insect they had feared had actually triggered the research
that brought them prosperity…or what I would call Romans 8:28 in action.
Then there is the story of famous blind songwriter Fanny Crosby, who wrote more than 8,000 songs. Writing about her
in his book Victorious Christian, Warren Wiersbe explained that when Fanny was only 6 weeks old a minor eye inflammation
developed. But the doctor who treated the case was careless, and she became totally and permanently blind. But Fanny
Crosby harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said of him, "If I could meet him now, I would say
thank you, over and over again for making me blind." She felt that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the
hymns that flowed from her pen. According to those who knew her, Miss Crosby probably would have refused treatment even
if it could have restored her sight. Another blind hymn writer, George Matheson, said that God made him blind so he could see
clearly in other ways and become a guide to men. This same tribute could be applied to Fanny Crosby, who considered her
handicap to be used to the glory of God.” She regarded it as something else in the bushes and God’s best plan for her life.
These stories could go on and on, like the one about the boy in Decatur, Illinois, who was deeply interested in
photography. He answered an ad in a magazine, ordering a book on the subject. But the publisher made a mistake and sent him
instead a book about magic and ventriloquism, and so he began practicing the art of throwing his voice. He created a wooden
dummy to whom, at one time, millions of people listened on Sunday evenings -- Charlie McCarthy. God had something else in
the bushes for Edgar Bergen, and turned a mistake into a fabulous career. And then there’s James Whistler, the renowned
artist, who wanted more than anything to be a soldier. He even entered West Point as a cadet. But he failed the chemistry
exam. Later he joked about the one wrong answer that had meant the difference between passing and failing. He said, "If
silicon had been a gas, I would have been a major general instead of an artist." Both Edgar Bergen and James Whistler had to
sacrifice their precious dreams, but God had something else in the bushes that was even better than what they had planned.
Lastly, there is the story of the man that had learned to be especially careful about small things, like a pair of socks that
changed the entire course of his life. He had planned to take a trip with some of his friends on a canal boat, but two days
before they intended to leave, he injured his foot while chopping wood. It was only a small cut, but the blue dye in the
homemade socks he wore poisoned the wound, and he had to stay at home. While his friends were on their journey, a
powerful preacher came to town to hold revival meetings. And since he didn't have anything else to do, he decided to attend.
The message touched him deeply, and as a result, he surrendered his heart to the Lord. Afterward he saw the need to change
his life in many ways. New desires and purposes took hold of him. He determined to seek an education, for he trusted that it
would enable him to live more usefully for his Lord. The man was none other than the former President of the United States,
James A. Garfield!
Granted, we don’t know whether every one of these examples involves a person who loves and trusts God. But if God
works to bring something good out of the bushes for those who may not even love and trust Him, how much more will God
work to do that for those who do? And if we are among those who love God, how much more can we trust that whatever our
current trials and dilemmas, God has something else in the bushes ready and waiting for God’s time and his good purposes in
our lives?
The Lord often allows trials to unsettle our lives for a blessed purpose. Perhaps we are trying to "grow cotton" when we
should be "raising peanuts." Perhaps we are trying to become soldiers when God has gifted us to be great artists. Perhaps we
are wallowing in sorrow over illness, blindness or a broken heart, when God wants to use these difficult experiences for his
glory and our own good. If so, we need to remember Abraham’s story and trust that God has something else—something
good—something more appropriate in the bushes to meet our every need. God’s plans and purposes are always better than
ours, and like Abraham, we need to trust God’s faithfulness and his love for us.
After all, while we were yet sinners and unable to save ourselves, while Satan had us bound on the altar of death with a
knife to our throats, God had something else in the bushes: even Jesus Christ our Lord. He was the appropriate sacrifice, the
perfect sacrifice, the only One who could deliver us from evil and save us from ourselves. On the Cross, God proved that
whatever heartaches and sorrows and trials and disappointments this life may bring, we can trust that Jesus Christ is always
waiting in the bushes for us. And if we love God, He will never stop working to bring about his good purposes in our lives
now, as well as a life of unending goodness in eternity, because of the sacrifice of his one and only, precious, beloved Son:
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us pray.
