Saturday, June 14, 2008

Trust

Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend (James 2:23).

Some people enjoy going to church—others don’t. Some enjoy taking time to pray—others don’t. The reason for these differences is simple—some people are friends of God, some are not. We don’t visit the home of a person we barely know; we don’t make regular phone calls to someone we don’t feel close to--but we do enjoy calling and visiting a good friend. That’s why some like to approach God while others stay away.

The Bible tells us that Abraham was called God’s friend. He thought of God as his friend because Abraham believed God; Abraham was a man of faith. Chapter 11 of Hebrews tells us, It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent…It was by faith that Abraham…was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac…Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.

Abraham’s life is held out to us as an example of faith. But we sometimes forget that the people of the Bible were flawed human beings like we are, that they also faced challenges that made it hard for them to believe in God and place their trust in Him. Abraham’s life was full of challenges to his faith.

Abraham’s first test came when he was still a young man living in the city of Ur (which was near modern day Baghdad). One day the Lord told Abraham, leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you (Genesis 12:1). We don’t like to leave our home, our relatives, or our friends. Before we pack up our families, we not only want to know where we’re going, but also how we will make a living when we’ve arrived. Abraham didn’t have an answer to either question. The Lord simply told him, "come, I’ll give you a land that I will show you." Abraham packed up and left, trusting that God would keep His promise and take care of him.

The Lord first lead him northwest to the city of Haran, which was located in modern-day Turkey; then Abraham and his wife, servants and cattle walked south through Syria, crossing deserts and fertile plains along their way. After a cattle-drive of nearly 1,000 miles, he reached the land of Canaan, which we know today as Palestine. The Lord told him, "this is it—the land I am giving to you and your descendants." Abraham looked around him. As far as he could see, there were low mountains and rugged hills. Most of the people lived in tents. It did not have the advanced culture, economy or services that he had enjoyed back home. We can imagine some of the servants grousing, "What a forsaken place. Let’s go back to civilization." But Abraham trusted God. He voiced no word of complaint. Instead, he built an altar and thanked God for this gift.

God’s intentions are often shrouded in mystery, but they are always good. Our Lord has a plan for each of our lives just as He had for Abraham. He knows where He wants us to live and how He wants us to invest our time and energy—whether we are to be an administrator, teacher, housewife, farmer, manager or truck driver. Sometimes our plans for our lives do not agree with His. When we insist on our own priorities, things don’t go very smoothly until we remember who it is that leads us, and that His ways are always good. It is important that we always try to discover what God wants us to be doing, and willingly follow wherever He leads.

Abraham’s next test of faith was a challenge to his generosity. Abraham had a nephew named Lot, whom he had invited to come on the trip with him. God had blessed Abraham and Lot, so that both ended up with large herds of animals. But these large herds strained the ability of the land to support them all; the herdsmen began to quarrel over grazing and water rights. We can imagine that some of Abraham’s servants muttered, "Lot had no business being here in the first place; Abraham brought him along as a favor. God gave the land to Abraham, not Lot."

But Abraham sat down with Lot to talk things over. Notice the faith and generosity of Abraham. He said, Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that area over there, then I'll stay here. If you want to stay in this area, then I'll move on to another place (Genesis 13:9). Abraham believed that God loves those who work for peace, and trusted that God would take care of him even if he lived on poorer land.

God wants us to trust Him, and thus be able to practice generosity and love. Instead of standing up for our rights, like Abraham we are to yield to our brother and let him have the better deal. Think of all the squabbling over inheritances that could be avoided. Think of all the time and money that could be saved by avoiding court fights. Our generosity is directly tied to our trust in God. He who trusts God only a little, fears to share; he who trusts God strongly, is confident that he can share much. Abraham trusted God.

Lot chose to settle in the fertile valley near Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s third test of faith came when several warlords banded together, raided Sodom, and took Lot and his family along as slaves. Some of Abraham’s servants probably smirked, "serves him right. Why did he have to have the rich plains near Sodom? Besides, we’re only a group of herders—we’re no match for the combined army of these four warlords."

But Abraham took his 318 men and pursued the army. With God’s help he defeated the warlords, freed Lot, and brought him home safely, along with his family and stolen possessions. Abraham trusted God to help him, and God gave him victory in spite of unfavorable odds.

Do some of your tasks look impossible? Are you afraid that you’ll never get your grades up at school? Do you worry that you don’t have what it takes to be a good husband, wife or parent? Does your boss demand more than you can give? When a pastor urges you to tell others about Jesus, are you afraid that you’ll just make a fool of yourself? If God has given you something to do, trust God and set yourself to the task. God helped Abraham get through a tough situation, just as He helps all who put their trust in Him. With God’s help, we can do anything He asks of us; nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Abraham’s fourth test was a test of his willingness to give to the Lord. Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him. An offering to God was certainly in order—but how much? Being a man like us, Abraham was doubtless tempted to give little or nothing. No matter how much one has, there is always a desire to hoard it away for possible future need. But Abraham gave the tithe, a full tenth of all that he had, trusting that God would bring him more joy with 90% of his assets than with 100% of them. He who trusts God to care for him is generous also in the support of Christ’s church.

But Abraham did not pass all of his tests. A drought struck Palestine. The cattle and sheep began to starve. Because of this, Abraham moved south to Egypt, another land where he didn’t know anyone. Since his wife Sarah was beautiful, Abraham feared that he might be murdered and his wife taken. So Abraham told the lie, "she is my sister."

Even a man like Abraham did not have perfect confidence in God. To maintain his family and his happiness, he decided that it was best that he deceive others. This in spite of the fact that God tells us that we should never lie. Of course, Abraham’s lie caused grief and was soon exposed.

Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever feel that a little dishonesty will help you to get ahead? Do you ever lie to your spouse or your parents because you believe it is the easiest way to keep the peace? Do you ever play fast and loose with the truth to make yourself look good? If so, then like Abraham you have sinned; you have not trusted God as you should.

But the greatest test of faith was still to come. Abraham and Sarah had, until now, been childless, yet God had promised them a Savior from sin and death, who would be their descendant. Even though Abraham was in his 90s and Sarah was well past the age of child bearing, he still believed that the Lord would keep His promise. And in due time, the Lord gave the couple the joy of a son they named Isaac, whose name means "laughter." He was the pride and joy of Abraham’s life—not just because he was the first-born son, but also because, through his lineage, the Savior would be born into the world.

Life was good—a loving wife, good land, wealth, and now a wonderful son. What a shock, then, to one day hear this command from God: Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about (Genesis chapter 22). This was the supreme test of faith. What would Sarah say? What would Isaac say? Abraham would gladly have given up anything else—his land rights, his money, his herd—but God wanted his son.

Early in the morning, Abraham saddled a donkey and headed into an uncertain future with Isaac and two servants. How his heart must have ached as he watched his son kiss his mother goodbye! The journey dragged on for two long days—Abraham must have prayed as he had never prayed before. On the third day, God pointed out the designated mountain. Leaving the servants behind, Abraham began his ascent, with Isaac carrying the wood for the burnt offering (just as Jesus would, one day, carry the wooden cross to the place where He would be sacrificed). At one point, Isaac realized they were missing something: "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Knowing that Isaac was to be the offering, Abraham replied: God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son, and you can be sure that Abraham was praying hard that He would.

At the designated place, Abraham built an altar, with Isaac cheerfully helping to arrange the wood. Finally, the moment came--the boy must be told. Then Abraham laid Isaac on the altar, and raised the knife for the fatal blow. He was ready to do what God had commanded, even though he couldn’t understand why. What a faith! Abraham trusted that if need be, God could keep His promise to him by afterwards raising Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

But at the moment when Abraham fully committed himself to God’s will, the Son of God, appearing as an angel, said: Do not lay a hand on the boy…Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. And, directing his gaze to a thicket, He showed Abraham a ram caught by its horns, a sacrificial offering provided by the Lord, just as Abraham had hoped. Abraham took this male sheep and sacrificed it there in Isaac’s place, just as centuries later, God the Father would sacrifice His only Son, the Lamb of God, who died in our place to provide us with a new lease on life. And when Abraham had made his sacred offering, the Angel of the Lord spoke again: I will…make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. Because Abraham had believed God and trusted Him, he was blessed not only with the life of his son, but with the assurance that the whole world would be blessed through his descendent Jesus.

What gave Abraham such faith in God? The Bible says that when he lived on the plains of Moreh, he built an altar to God. When he lived on the plains of Mamre, he built an altar to God. When he lived near Bethel, he built an altar to God. Wherever he went, he built altars and worshipped the Lord. That was the secret of his enduring faith—he spent so much time with God that he really got to know Him, and knowing God so well, he knew that he could trust Him.

Too many people today have no more than a passing acquaintance with God, because they spend so little time with Him. They don’t really know Him, and so they don’t really trust Him. How much time do you spend with God? How much time do you invest making sure that your children or grandchildren know Him? Have you been in the habit of building an altar to Him wherever you live, a place set aside for regular Bible reading, devotion and prayer? How much is worship and Bible study a part of your week? A faith like Abraham’s only comes to those who invest their time in fellowship with God. It was Jesus Himself who said, Blessed…are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28).

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