“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

The proving grounds of faith are no comfort zone. They are not the green pasture and still water places. The testing pushes and pulls at our soul, demands we hand over what we call ours, what we’ve fought for and waited for.

Even what was promised to us.

It isn’t hard to make our offering to God when there is no pain in the offering. But often these proving grounds are also killing fields and the things that we must offer up there are painfully costly. There is only one way things get handed over in that place.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac…” (Hebrews 11:17)

Our obedience to the testing of our faith will reveal the boundaries of our faith. And maybe that’s the point of the testing.

“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Matthew 19:21-22

He wanted eternal life, and he followed the ten commandments, so Jesus told him to get rid of his money. That was the boundary line. He had faith enough to follow the rules, but it did not extend to giving up what meant the most to him. Instead, he walked away.

• We will not willingly surrender what we believe is ours, not God’s.
• We will not give what means the most to us if we do not trust the character of God.

There is a family that is deep in the proving grounds of faith. Their daughter is Eva Love and here is a quote from her dad, Dugan Sherbondy:

” In addition to surrendering my daughter, I’m also now surrendering my expectations or desire to control what happens. It’s amazing how much effort it’s requiring to intentionally wait like this. It’s like I have to take a thousand purposeful Sabbaths each day to ensure I’m quieting my spirit and casting my cares upon Jesus.”

This family is publicly living their pain. They have invited all of us to journey with them, to watch them walk through the most painful place they’ve ever been, and see what a faith that surrenders what is most precious looks like. Please join believers around the world as we continue to wait and pray and believe God for Eva’s complete healing!

Visit Dugan Sherbondy’s FB Page