Our Faith Will be Tested
We can call ourselves believers, when we believe in something that transcends us. We can call ourselves Christians when we lay our lives in God’s hands, and trust Him to grant us forgiveness from our sins and an everlasting future.
This faith, in Jesus as our Savior, can be tested, God does that. He doesn’t do it to make our lives more difficult, but rather to let our faith grow.
Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV)
We are going to take a closer look at Abraham’s history.
Abraham’s trial
In verse 1 we read that God is testing Abraham; testing and tempting is not one and the same. Temptation is focused on our old self (the human without God), to see if the evil can come out. That is what Satan tries to do. A test, on the other hand, is focused on our new self, in order to shed light on the weaknesses, so that it can be worked on.
Faith becomes stronger after a trial which is God’s work. Compare this to what is being said in 1 Peter 1:6-7, that gold will be refined. Our faith is more precious to Him than gold. It will become stronger and more beautiful.
What does Abraham do with this test?
Abraham’s trust
Verse 3 tells us that Abraham got out of bed early.
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together …
Genesis 22:3-6 (NIV)
He does not procrastinate. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is the thing God has asked him to do. It is important for all of us to not procrastinate when God asks us to do something. We can come up with so many reasons why not to do it. In this case, as in many: policies delayed are policies denied.
Faith in God means: immediate obedience.
Abraham speaks of his faith in verse 5. He tells his two servants: “and then we will come back to you.” Abraham believes that he will return with his son, and he talks beforehand about this.
Trusting God means telling others what you believe He will do. Let’s keep reading.
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:7-14
Abraham talks about his faith once again (verse 8), but this time to his son. This time, through faith, he talks about how God will solve this problem. Abraham believes (trusts) that God Himself will make sure that there will be something, other than his son, to place on the altar. In this verse, Abraham is also a prophet, who speaks of Jesus and His sacrifice as a substitute for our own. Our own offering is not good enough, so God Himself will provide the right sacrifice.
And God provides, indeed (verse 13).
Let us keep rejoicing over the sacrifice that Jesus Christ has made for us, so that we can have life!
Abraham’s reaction to doubts
Someone with faith is not someone who never doubts. Abraham may have had many questions running through his mind, without having the answers. There seems to be numerous contradictions to God's promise and this request.
The first source of doubt: Abraham loves God and he loves his son, Isaac. Is it possible that he had started loving his son more than his Lord? God understands that this could have happened. He tells him: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love.” But Abraham keeps placing God above anything else. He does not let his worldly love cast a shadow on his heavenly love.
Whatever is precious and beautiful in our lives, let us place God above it all.
The second source of doubt: There seems to be contradictions in God's goodness and God's command towards Abraham. How can God command a father to kill his own son? The answer is in the second part of the story. God prevents Abraham from killing a human being. God does not find pleasure in human sacrifice, but rather in a holy sacrifice. He wanted to test Abraham’s willingness to give his son back to Him.
God desires a holy sacrifice, in our daily lives, in our attitude, our words, our work and our service. God wants to see willingness in our lives.
The third source of doubt: There also seems to be a contradiction between God's promise and Isaac’s death. The covenant and all the promises would account for nothing was Isaac to die. The answer to this question is displayed in a beautiful display of faith from Abraham: He is the first one in the Bible who believes that God can raise the dead to life. He tells his servants that they will come back, together. Hebrews 11: 17-19 states that Abraham had figured that, since God had promised to make him a great nation, He will bring Isaac back to life, if he really had to die.
Let us grow in our faith by doing even those things we have never seen happen before (in our own lives). There is nothing that God cannot do.
