The supposed solution in Abraham and Sarah’s mind finally arrived. Isaac was born and Abraham was in pig’s paradise. The son—the son of promise—he had waited for so long was finally here. In his mind, the solution to the problem of fulfilling God’s promise was this tiny baby boy he held in his arms. It is likely, given his age, that the father-son relationship consumed the old man and all of his attention. Why not? Here was God’s answer to his promise given so long ago when Abraham had set out for Canaan.

But Isaac was not the key; he was only a small piece in a much larger puzzle. It is likely that Abraham’s obsession with Isaac caused him to lose his focus on God, the dream giver. Now it seemed he was focused only on Isaac, his answer to the dream. Earlier in this series I shared with you how Abraham had become fixated on just one of the three promises God had sworn to give him. The descendant issue in Abraham’s mind was the guarantee to the rest of the promises.

Whenever we lose focus things become blurry. Very often we make minor issues major issues and elevate things out of their proper place and make them idols. A blurred focus or divided allegiance will lead us down paths that always end up at dead-ends. God was determined that Abraham would not travel to that destination.

God, not Isaac was the key to the fulfillment of the dream he had implanted in Abraham’s spirit, and he is the fulfillment of the one he has given you as well. The time had come to re-focus Abraham eyes and attention—away from the promise and back on God. Now might be a good time to pause a few minutes and allow the Holy Spirit to do a little soul-searching in your attention data base. What are you focused on? What consumes your time, money, and energy? What is your obsession? Has the fulfillment of the dream replaced your relationship with God? Good things can easily crowd out the best thing if we are not careful. Our focus can often blur without our even realizing it.

Like Abraham, God will sometimes ask you to sacrifice the dream—to give it back to him—to lay it on the altar and kill it. That may sound implausible to you unless it has happened in your past. Perhaps you’ve watched what you thought was the solution—the answer to the dream taken. Perhaps you are there today and are convinced God has short-changed you or somehow left you hanging.  Perhaps there is another solution to the situation you find yourself in. Rest assured, God never short-changes one of his kids. God is not playing games with you. He is not an Indian-giver. Perhaps God is in the process of refocusing your attention off the dream and back on the One who gave you the dream in the first place.

Here is another principle you must grasp as you dream God-sized dreams: God-sized dreams are capable of consuming us unless our focus is firm on the God who gives the dream. We can never love the dream more than the Dream Giver. If this happens, God must repossess the dream that he entrusted to you. The dream can never become the center of our lives or it becomes an idol—which is, after all, a godless dream.

Abraham made no argument when God told him to sacrifice Isaac. He simply obeyed. The lesson had been learned and there was no need to repeat it or go any farther down that road. Abraham was willing to do whatever God said. He climbed Mt. Moriah with his dream  bound him with cords, and laid him on an altar. He gave the dream back to God—it was God’s dream anyway and so is yours. Ownership of the dream rests with God—we are only stewards.

As Abraham prepared to kill his dream, Jehovah-Jireh (the God Who Provides) showed up and gave his son back. He re-issued the dream by re-focusing its recipient. The refocus was complete. Here is the point: you must be willing to relinquish all rights to the dream and keep your focus on God who gives the dreams. The dream is only a vehicle God uses to draw us closer to him. Abraham learned that day high near the top of Moriah that it’s God—not the dream—that provides our purpose.