Abraham's trust

I mentioned in my last post that we shared about Abraham, Mary and Thomas and their faith in God during Sunday's session.  

I would like to invite you to take a closer look at Abraham's faith.

Christians all over acknowledge Abraham as the Father of Faith. To find out why this is so, read Genesis 12 and 22 for the stories about God calling Abraham to go to the Promised Land, and sacrifice of Isaac. Here's something I wanna share from Genesis 12:

"Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house and go to a land which I am going to show you..."

The bold emphasis is mine. 

Did you notice how this was phrased? God doesn't tell Abraham where that piece of land is. He just said to go to a land... It's a land... somewhere.... And yet, Abraham up and walks. And he was 75! Think about the courage and the faith Abraham had to do this at such an old age!

And again, in Genesis 22, God tested Abraham by telling him to take Isaac - the son whom God gave to him in his old age - and sacrifice him in the land of Moriah. And when Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice is, Abraham's response was: "God will himself will provide one."

I don't think Abraham's words were just bravado. He truly believed that God will provide the lamb. He trusted God. The fact that he even took the first step towards Moriah showed how much faith and trust he had in God. 

Certainly, he must have done this with a heavy heart - probably not understanding why God would command him to sacrifice the son whom God himself gave. 

Does that sound familiar? Are there times when things happen to you, and you wonder: why, God? Why me? Why did this horrible thing have to happen to me? I don't understand.

It's times like these that it's useful for us to refer back to Genesis 12 and 22, and take Abraham as an example: to take that first step towards the unknown and trust in God anyway. To trust and believe that He will himself will provide for us. When we are troubled. When we are weak. When we are hurt. When we feel we can't carry on.

And, to pray for grace to trust God, when we feel doubt in our hearts. Because, sometimes, trusting God can be a very daunting and scary thing, especially in things that mean a lot to us. But I wanna leave you with this thought:

I love nature, and when I travel I like to photograph wild flowers that I see along the way. Here's one.

Why do I love looking at wild flowers? 

It's because, through them, I learn a little about the nature of God: how precise and careful he is in his creation. The blend of colors in every petal - from white, blending into pale pink, then light purple, then a brilliant and brighter shade of purple. And it always looks beautiful.

If God can be so precise and careful with even a wild flower, what about me and my life? Would he be sloppy about it? I highly doubt it.

So, trust that the God of precision and perfection will provide you with nothing less than the best. 

Just look at Abraham.