Abraham had lived an exciting, faith-developing life. He had journeyed far from home with God as his only GPS. He had trusted God with the welfare and protection of his nephew, Lot and his illegitimate son, Ishmael. He had believed God to rescue him from more than one crisis. And in his most mission critical act of faith he had waited twenty- five long years for the son of promise, Isaac. Now as an aged man he would be able to sit back and reflect on the goodness of God without the stress of any more challenges to his faith, right? Wrong!
No one is awarded a PhD in faith in this life. Jesus described mountain-moving faith (pretty big in our estimate) as no larger than the proverbial mustard seed (Matt. 17: 20). There is always room for growth in the faith department. Let’s face it – faith doesn’t typically come easy even for those who describe ourselves as believers.
While we may grow content with our FQ (our Faith Quotient) God will not permit us to do so. He will continue to stretch our faith. That’s why our greatest faith challenges still lie ahead. The big challenges of the past – they’re just prep for what’s upcoming. So brace yourself.
Just as Abraham would be assigned his greatest test in being required to sacrifice the son of promise you and I will often be called on to slay the very thing we waited patiently for God to give us. It’s the biography of belief: the birth of faith, the growth of faith, the death of faith followed by the resurrection of faith.
Does this seem a little mind boggling? Trust me, reading it is the easy part. The real test will come when we must live it. Brace yourself!