When Eliezer came to Canaan, he saw Yitzchok returning from: בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי. Rashi says that he went there to get a Shidduch for his father. Who was this Shidduch? Hagar! The very same Hagar who had been kicked out of the house, and her son Yishmael was sent away because of Yitzchok. Yet, we don’t see any animosity between them, and Yitzchok brings Davka Hagar back, since he cares only for his father’s Shidduch!
The Meforshim bring down that he went to daven in the same place that Hagar screamed to Hashem when she was driven out of Avraham Avinu’s house. Yitzchok was pure without Negi'a, without any hard feelings towards Hagar, whose son Yishmael had tried to kill him. (Rashi). This sounds similar to Dovid HaMelech, who took Shim’i ben Gera as a tutor for his son, Shlomo, even after Shim'i had given Dovid a: קְלָלָה נִמְרֶצֶת – bitter curse.
Dovid was surely heavily involved in Shviras HaMiddos, as you can see from the stories in Sefer Shmuel (I-II) which are loaded with Dovid’s Ha'tavah B'makom Hakpada i.e., Davka doing a favor (Ha'tavah) instead of being upset (Hakpada). This totally describes R' Gershon Liebman’s lifestyle. He was once walking around at night, and they asked him what he’s looking for. He replied: נִּי מְשַׁפֵּחַ בִּשְׁבִירַת הַמִּדוֹת – I’m looking for Shviras HaMiddos! This is your life and your Chi'yus, and your whole Geshmak in living!
Believe it or not, if a person wants to constantly work on his Middos these days, he may need to be busy building himself up day and night with kosher Ga'ava, and also be involved with Bitachon lots of time. He’ll get plenty of Schar, since it’s so much against his Shafel (lowly) nature. This can even be Pikuach Nefesh and fulfilling the Mitzva of: וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם (ואתחנן ד טו) – guarding your health, since depression and low self-esteem can hurt a person physically, Chas V'shalom.
Now, the Ma'aseh HaAkeida (his willingness to sacrifice his son) doesn’t stand out as an isolated and unusual story in the life of Avraham Avinu. It is a Siman and a Remez of his entire being, which was self-sacrifice and going against his Tevah. Perhaps this is why we don’t see Yitzchok reacting with amazement when his father tells him that he’s the Korban.
