Abraham’s faith is put to the test
It is relatively easy to declare one’s confidence in God when everything is hunky-dory. The sun shines, the flowers bloom, there is food on the table and a roof over our heads. At such times we might blithely say that we trust God; after all we seem to have everything we need and nothing threatens our future happiness.
For many followers of Jesus life is not so straightforward.
Just maybe, its not that straightforward for you either!
You may not have been stuck down with CoVid, or had your home broken into, or have been forced out of your job by redundancy. But tough moments like that come along in life for very many of us, and those are the times when faith is tested.
Abraham’s faith was severely tested. Read about his experiences this week and pray for similar faith and perseverance in your own life.
Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”
Here is another moment of heroic faith. Abraham had accepted that Isaac was to be the one through whom the promises would be fulfilled, and now God tells him – sacrifice Isaac. It all flies in the face of both reason and expectation. Abraham left home and travelled with all his possessions to a foreign place without knowing what God’s long-distance plan was – he set out in faith believing God had a purpose. That did not fly totally in the face of human reason in an age when migration was a known factor in life. Moving that way was simply an act of faithful obedience. But to sacrifice Isaac – that was in a different league altogether. Abraham and Sarah had waited years for this son, and all God’s promises about founding a nation, and having a multitude of descendants were focussed down on the one young lad – Isaac. Can you even begin to imagine Abraham’s feelings?
Down the ages Jesus-followers have been called by God to make all kinds of sacrifices. Some have given a lifetime of unrecognised service in a remote part of the globe serving the needs of others, or translating the Bible for them. Some have given up home and earth-based security and others have forgone family life for the loneliness and hardship of living in a foreign culture. But none of this even begins to approach what Abraham was called to do. This was faith tested to the limit, and faithful Abraham was prepared to obey.
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