Do You Need A Handler?

Do you need a “handler”?

When I watch some of the TV shows where they have people in the Ops headquarters with “eyes” that can see ahead of the people on the ground, I think “I want one!”. It seems pretty convenient to have someone available to “see” the dangers ahead, or to help guide them to safety or to someone who needs their help-whatever the reason, that extra set of eyes helps to guide those whose feet are “on the ground”.

How would you maneuver your days if you “KNEW” that there was someone that “had your back” that would let you know the best path to take…in “real” time.   For example…“So, should I take the bypass road to get to Wal-Mart or the Business Rt. -which will cause me less stress and a faster route? “ or  maybe for lunch today, “should I have the “special”-it is 50 cents cheaper than  usual it looks interesting or that more expensive  salad with those crunchy yummy candied walnuts I like?” – and in your ear you hear the “handler” say “you’ll want to have the “special” because I can see the kitchen staff will have it ready in a flash and there is a tour bus full of hungry “retired” women pulling up to the restaurant now.”

You know, “helpful stuff” in “real” time.

The decisions that we would find so reassuring with the obvious answers at our fingertips! Yep, I still want one!

Hmmm, but IF you have a “handler” you have to have “FAITH” and trust in that person. Having some sort of relationship with the voice on the other side of the eyes is what allows you to move smoothly and with confidence.

Hmmmm, what if this “handler” had a wider view, more than just the moment by moment real time commentary?

I am reminded of Abraham

Enter Abraham… a man that had a bit of practice following God.  Lets ponder his story where he is “tested” by God to take his one and only son [that he waited MANY years to come into the picture…but God promised him a son with his wife Sarah and that promise was answered with Isaac.] and offer him as a burnt offering to God! Ok, well with my “mothers” brain there are about a million reasons why this doesn’t set well in my whole being!  However Abraham had experienced God’s provisions for himself and his family throughout his life and KNOWING and TRUSTING that God’s ways are far above our ways. Abraham set out with the instructions given him.  Genesis 22 is where this part of the story begins…

Abraham Tested

¹Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.                                                                                                                   (Abraham knew God well enough to recognize his voice! Do we?)

² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”                 (OUCH, that’s a huge order! Did he argue, whine or complain-Like I would have? NOPE!)

³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.                                                                                          (He trusted his “Handler”) 

⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

⁶ 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, ⁷ 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?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. (Ok, being honest here…I have a big ole knot in my stomach! All sorts of questions and emotions bounce around in my head, Was Isaac afraid? Was Abraham in a panic? And oh so many more!)

¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 

(Would you do what was asked of YOU? Would you trust your “Handler” in this situation?  Abraham’s faith in who God was is one of the greatest examples we have access to in the Bible!)

¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

(and again he recognized this voice!)

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (I am wondering…What am I withholding?, What do I feel undeserving of?, Where am I not trusting my “Handler”?, Hmmmmm….)

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

This “test” had a happy ending, and a HUGE message! Truth be told when I started this thought process -about the awesomeness of having my own personal “handler” for my “real time” comings and goings, I had just a wisp of the possible direction it may go, and now?  I can see more clearly that my eyes of faith in moving forward in each day are definitely guided by the Almighty Handler, who has my best in mind because He can see all that is ahead. That is not only faith but truth!

Doing life under His Umbrella!

Becky