The Faith of Abraham

"Go." WHERE? "I'll tell you later. Just go." (Gen. 12)

I am reminded of a song that was popular at one point in time. It said, “I’ll go where you send me, go where you send me. I want to be your hands. I want to be your feet.” Or, something to that affect. It is easy in the best of times to say that we would go wherever God called us to go. But that is usually assuming we have an idea of where exactly it is, we are to go. Then we could at least research the place and brace ourselves for what was ahead on the journey. But God was asking Abraham to just start walking. Abraham is saying, “Lord, I will do it, you know I will, but can you just give me an idea of a direction? Like, where do you want me to go?”  I wonder if we would be so bold as to say “Yes,” without knowing where we are to go. Would we just take off in any random direction trusting that God has already set our feet in motion towards His intended destination? Would we have that kind of blind faith?

"You will have a son." HOW? "I'll tell you later. Just trust." (Gen. 15)

Isn’t that so indicative of how we respond to God when He calls on us to trust Him? He offers to bless us, to give us the desire of our hearts, to fulfill our dreams, to mend our brokenness, and we respond with distrust and unbelief. His word is chalk-full of promises and its like we don’t pay any attention to them. We rationalize our faith and compartmentalize it into a controllable part of our chaotically managed lives when it should be our whole life and guide every aspect of our life. He is the God of miracles. I have never seen anything that indicates that He stopped performing miracles. Chris McClarney in the song God of Miracles sings these words, “Let faith arise In spite of what I see Lord I believe but help my unbelief I choose to trust you no matter what I feel let faith arise…” Abraham and his wife were really old even by today’s standards. They were in their 80’s and here God is telling them they are going to have a son. They have wanted this for so long. They prayed for so long that God would give them a child. They had good reason to doubt. Or, did they? He is still God after-all. They did believe in Him. He had already done so much for them. What would God have to do in our lives in order that we may have such faith and trust? Would it even be enough?

"Offer up your son on the mount." WHY? "I'll tell you later. Just climb." (Gen. 22)

What is up with this word, “why?” My kids ask this question all the time. My answer is usually, “Because, I said so!” Why is that answer so hard to accept? Like, I am the boss! I m the father and in the infamous words of Bill Cosby, “I brought you in this world and I can take you out of this world!” Like, just do what you are told already, if for no other reason than I said so. After everything I have done, after all that I have given you, after all this time, you are really going stand there and ask me “why?”  You see, obedience is key. Its not faith that is the lesson to be learned from Abraham. His faith waxed and waned with the change of seasons. His obedience though was his saving grace. His obedience to do all that God instructed him even with looming questions, massive oppositions, and mounting pressure – he was obedient. Faith without obedience is not saving faith that usurers in grace. We are saved by grace through faith, a faith that is credited to us because of our obedience. If Abraham had not been obedient, he would not be in the book of Hebrews as an example of faith.

Ultimately, the faith of Abraham is about having a heart of "yes" before the question is asked. It is about being willing to run with scissors, to tickle a hyena, to grow some coconuts, and to just do, without hesitation or reservation. Its not as blind a faith as you might think. In fact I would argue that this faith is a very calculated faith with several millennia of facts, miraculous provision, answered promises, and fulfilled prophecies to support our actions.