The Weakest Link

I’ve been spending time in Genesis these days. Isaac has become an object of my speculation. In the lineage of Abraham—Isaac—Jacob/Israel—Joseph it is glaringly apparent that Isaac is the weakest link (to borrow the title of a former television show). Seemingly his greatest contribution to this line was in providing the genetic material for Jacob/Israel. Yes, this sounds harsh but name any significant contribution Isaac made or any major battles he fought. See what I mean. It’s not that he lacked in power or blessings—he didn’t. He inherited Abraham’s wealth and power and even built on it. At one time his power intimidated the king who asked him to leave. He left. He and Rebekah had twin sons and he had his favorite while Rebekah had hers. They built dysfunction into their family.
Here’s a theory—actually a theory with a couple of suppositions. My theory is that Isaac was afraid to get too close to the Lord for fear of what God might have asked him to do.
To cut him some slack, he had a traumatic experience as a teenager—his father tried to kill him. Yes, Abraham had him tied up and lying on an altar with knife in hand when God spoke and spared his life. And in fairness to Abraham, he was involved in a huge test from God to see who Abe loved more: Isaac or God. My disturbed mind looks at this event and wonders how this affected Isaac. Did he hear the Lord tell Abe, “Now I know you love me more.” Did this cause Isaac to decide, “I don’t want to get too close to God because I don’t want to have to face a test like Dad had to face.” Did this cause Isaac to focus on the cost and not the reward of following God fully?
My other supposition has to do with Isaac being born late in life to Abraham and Sarah. Abe was 100 and Sarah around 90. Think they didn’t spoil that boy? Think they didn’t overly protect him? Every indication in the Bible screams that they protected him. He became a mama’s boy and a daddy’s boy. Even at age 39 or 40, he’s still fully protected by dad. What a disservice we provide to our children when we overly protect them. I mean, David fought Goliath at age 16 or 17; Joseph became a slave at about age 17 and soon ran a household. Daniel was captured as a youth—probably in his teen—and stood up for his faith while in captivity. But Isaac; still a daddy’s boy at 40?
I guess this whole Isaac thing is bothering me because it strikes so close to home. How often have I focused on the cost and not the benefit of following God? How often do we who name the name of Jesus Christ as our Savior want to place restrictions on our obedience? Why do we look at the short term cost and not consider that God has a plan beyond our knowledge or vision that will be better if obeyed? Oh, it’s really easier to focus on Isaac’s weakness and ignore our own. But it seems like the Bible was written to show us how to live. So now it’s back on me—will I choose to always obey God and trust He knows best, or do I try to live my life my own way? That’s also your choice.