Faith is a muscle that is easily employed when things seem to be going well. But what about when the going gets tough?
That's when faith really needs to be exercised. God had made an incredible promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations." Abraham was almost a hundred and his wife Sarah was not far behind, yet Abraham believed the Lord, [who] counted it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). We often have faith when we believe that God has spoken, even when the dream seems to be so big only God could achieve it. Finally, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. Yet when the testing comes, that's when faith is really required. In Genesis 22:2, "[God] said, 'Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'" Abraham obeyed and as he was ready to slaughter the son of promise, God intervened and provided a substitute, a ram caught in the thickets nearby.
Whatever your God-given dream may be, even when it seems that you are being led into despair or destruction, if God is with you then He will bring it to pass. Trust Him for as He promises through David's words in Psalm 23, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." And in Habakkuk 2:4, "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
That's when faith really needs to be exercised. God had made an incredible promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations." Abraham was almost a hundred and his wife Sarah was not far behind, yet Abraham believed the Lord, [who] counted it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). We often have faith when we believe that God has spoken, even when the dream seems to be so big only God could achieve it. Finally, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. Yet when the testing comes, that's when faith is really required. In Genesis 22:2, "[God] said, 'Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'" Abraham obeyed and as he was ready to slaughter the son of promise, God intervened and provided a substitute, a ram caught in the thickets nearby.
Whatever your God-given dream may be, even when it seems that you are being led into despair or destruction, if God is with you then He will bring it to pass. Trust Him for as He promises through David's words in Psalm 23, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." And in Habakkuk 2:4, "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
Posted in Weekly Reflections