Abraham, a man of great faith

Abraham was an ordinary man called by God to a land of promise. He was humble, teachable and had great faith in God’s promises. God blessed him with wealth and success in everything he did. Abraham always relied in the directions and counsel that came from God. In every move, Abraham enquired of the Lord. His life was centered on God and he was a man of great faith. By faith Abraham obeyed the command of God to move to a country he did not know.

As much as Abraham was wealthy, he had his own challenges. Wealthy as he was both from the material things and God’s promises, Abraham would still ask “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?” Gen 15:2.

The ultimate test of Abraham’s faith

God eventually made good His promise and gave Abraham a son. But this son would soon be a stumbling block between Abraham and his relationship with God. So God had one great lesson for the old man.

“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen 22:2.

In the eyes of man this was a total failure on Abraham. To sacrifice his only son, the inheritor of his wealth and the only descendant to continue his family line, how could God require of him such a great sacrifice? How could God fulfill his promises without Isaac? After all, didn’t God promise Abraham that he would be the father of many nations? What would you have done if you were in Abraham’s shoes?

The trouble with Abraham as it is with all of us is that often we get lost in the abundance of God’s blessings and lose sight of the source of the blessings. Abraham had become too close to his son that it was threatening his relationship with God. In his old age, he adored his son more than the Giver. God had a lesson to remove this cancer that was eating into heart of Abraham and it had to be done in a most decisive surgery.

As Abraham climbed mount Moriah, many thoughts went through his mind. His life, he thought was a total failure. Had God let him down? All his wealth meant nothing since the only successor was to be killed as an offering. Yet God had commanded it and he had to obey. In man’s estimation, Abraham’s obedience at that time was leading to total failure. But Abraham, the great man of faith, trusted God and obeyed even though he could not understand why.

Yes, Abraham obeyed God, no matter what and this was counted to him as righteousness. He knew that even if he offered Isaac as a sacrifice, God would provide a way and could even raise the boy from death.

Abraham passed the test and God said “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”

“By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen 22:12, 16-18.

As Abraham walked down the mountain, nothing in life was of more importance than his walk with God. Removed from the strong attachment of his son, he focused on his relationship with God. And he yearned that his son would follow in his footsteps of total trust and obedience to Jehovah God.

Abraham’s faith earned him favour in the eyes of the Lord. Do you have faith that God can look upon you and say, this is my child, he has great faith in me. Be faithful to God and he will remain faithful to you.