God said to Abraham, "I will bless her, (his wife Sarah), and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you
will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an
everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
(Genesis 17:15-21)
I have often wondered why God tests us if He knows already how we will behave and the outcome of our behaviour. Is it to make us stronger perhaps? To make us trust Him more?
In the passage above, God promises Abraham that through his son Isaac there will be many descendants.
Let's imagine God spoke to you and He promises that through your offspring good things will happen in future. You are happy and you trust the Lord your God. And then ... ... ...
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. "Take your son," God said, "your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will show you." So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated. (Genesis 22:1 onwards)
If this story happened today the police and social services
would soon be knocking at Abraham's door. Poor Isaac would never recover from the traumatic
experience. And Sarah would probably divorce Abraham.
Why would God go to such dramatic lengths to
test Abraham's love and obedience? If God is all-knowing, surely He
would know that Abraham loved Him and would obey. Did God not think of
the traumatic effect this episode would have on Isaac?
But let us look beyond the human emotions which we often use as a measuring yardstick when we consider earthly things. Here, God is not just testing Abraham for the sake of testing him. He is also strengthening his faith in God.
We all believe we have faith in God. But that faith is really only truly tested when we go through a bad time in our lives and we learn that we are not alone. God is with us. Protecting us as He has promised.
Without experiencing the bad times, and without experiencing God's hand in helping us through these bad times; then our faith is only just that! A word ... a blind belief ... which we don't even know why we believe it, or whether we could truly maintain it when things go wrong.
You see ... our bad times are an opportunity for us to experience God's closeness to us. To experience His love and protection. Our bad times are not just a test for the sake of a test.
Of course, God knows how we will react to the "test" as we perceive it. Yet He let's us experience it in order to strengthen our faith and to experience His love and protection.
Remember that God had already promised Abraham that through Isaac there would be many descendants. This would not have happened if Isaac had been killed. So Abraham had a tough decisions to make. Either trust God's earlier promise or not.
Note that Abraham trusted God. On the way up the mountain with Isaac he said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy
go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." (Genesis 22:5)
He said we will come back to you. So in his heart he knew that God would not let him go through with sacrificing Isaac as a burnt offering.
As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?"
Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is
the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. (Genesis 22:6 onwards)
Abraham had faith indeed. He knew he was being tested; yet he held on tight to God's earlier promise that through Isaac there will be many descendants.
When I go through difficult times, (often), I ask the Lord, "Why are you testing me so if you already know how I would react?"
Perhaps instead I should thank God for reminding me that in all of the difficult times I have been through in life He was always there beside me. Now, looking back, I am sure of it. Too many experiences for me to mention or tell you about. But on each one I am certain He helped me through them.
Now read this from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians. “Every test that you have
experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His
promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain
firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to
endure it, and so provide you with a way out”. (1 Corinthians Chapter 10 Verse
13).
Let’s face it – God is
not in the business of losing His followers. Those devoted to Him. It does not
further His cause one bit if His own followers are so tested by the world’s
evils that they loose their Faith in Him. This is contrary to His love for us.
He will not allow us to just perish.
Also, let us remember that although God spared Isaac, He did offer His only Son Jesus as a sacrifice for us. A sacrifice which Jesus accepted willingly to redeem us from our sins.
...faith is different for different people.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Tom.
DeleteGod bless.
Faith is the 'substance' of things hoped for. All the promises of God are YES in Jesus, and we have to know as individuals what God has promised us in our walk in the Lord. Even though God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to be offered as a burned offering, what God said to him did not overrule the promise He had given him regarding his descendants. The same happens in our lives today as we are spoken to through that Word, which is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We are tested many times and the spiritual enemy can tell many lies through the carnal mind to try to overrule what has been spoken to us through that Word. As born again children of God in the body of Christ on earth we have access to the mind of Christ, and we must take every thought captive and bring it into obedience to the Word of God spoken to us in every situation we come into. Yes, we go through many trials and they do strengthen us, as the more we are tested in our weakness, the stronger we become in the Lord as we recognise the lies of the the spiritual enemy who is a thief who will try to rob us of what God has in store for us. All praise to our lovely Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb.
ReplyDeleteI think I understand what you are saying, Brenda.
DeleteGod bless.
all scripturally based Victor.
DeleteGod bless.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" ~ Phil. 1:6
ReplyDeleteHe gives us faith, and He won't let us lose it.
Amen Mimi.
DeleteGod bless you.
In my life, it WAS a crisis that brought me so much closer to God than I could have imagined. At the time the situation was horrible; today I can give thanks for it.
ReplyDeleteThat is my experience too, Kathy. We are not so much tested as we are strengthened in our faith.
DeleteGod bless you.
Wow. This was difficult to read. Of course, I remember hearing this story in the past -- but always chose to put it out of my mind. Not for the first time, I wonder how Abraham knew it was God talking to him -- and not Satan. Sad, but I can't honestly say I'd be as obedient -- or offer myself instead.
ReplyDeleteIn those days, Mevely, God was more direct when speaking to people or to the prophets. This is because people like Abraham, Moses, Noah and the prophets were more receptive. They were devout and believed the Lord and honoured Him all the time.
DeleteToday people are less receptive and don't even believe in God.
God had promised Abraham directly that his son Isaac would produce many descendants. So Abraham had to weigh up this promise, which he saw as real, against the wish/demand to kill his son. So even if it was Satan speaking to Abraham, (which it was not), he, (Abraham), was sure that God would intervene. That is real faith strengthened by trial. That is why Abraham told the servants that they, (he and his son), will be back. And he told Isaac that God will provide the sacrifice to be burnt. Which God indeed did.
I agree that to day we would not be as obedient. But this is perhaps because today God does not appear to us and speak to us as clearly as He did in the Old Testament. Moses actually saw Him and wrote the Ten Commandments; as well as obeyed Him many times on the way out of Egypt. Noah heard Him clearly when he built the Arc. As did a number of others as recorded in the Bible.
God bless, Mevely.
In times of trouble or uncertainty, God always had me covered. It did make my faith stronger but I have to confess that when things settled I probably forgot about what he has and will provide. It's hard not to feel like you are taking God for granted. We humans are flawed after all which he already knows anyway. Thanks, Victor for this wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Bill. Yes, at the time of our troubles God was/is always there; even if we don't realise it at the time. Later on we just forget and go back to our own ways. That's because we are fickle and weak. God already knows that as you say. And He forgives time and again.
DeleteThank you Bill for your comment. God bless you.
This story of Abraham and his complete faith and trust in God never ceases to amaze and inspire me, Victor. Yes, we will go through trials in life, but remembering that God is in it all helps every one of us to endure and come out better for it.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
That is why God allows us to go through trials, Martha. He is not testing us; but giving us an opportunity to grow in faith and to trust Him more.
DeleteGod bless.
To me faith is trusting God in all circumstances that He knows what is best for me.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteGod bless, Happyone.
Dear Victor, I recognize the test --didn't much get it 'til I heard Dylan's take on "Highway 61 Revisited" (mid- '60s):
ReplyDelete"God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe say, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No", Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe
But the next time you see me comin', you better run"
Well, Abe said, "Where you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61".
Interstate 61 is variously called the "Blues or Saint's Highway" etc., running from Louisiana thru Minnesota. After spending 15 hours driving it one dark night, I'm convinced it's a test of faith.
I remember the song vaguely, Geo.
DeleteAnd I guess; yes. God does test us every now and then. To remind us that He is still near us should we need Him.
God bless you.
When we suffer hardship and loss, it is not always easy in the midst of the great pain to recognize the big picture of what God is showing us. Great post, Victor!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Yes you're right, Lulu. At the time, we are all caught up in the suffering and trauma to remember He is but a prayer away.
DeleteGod bless you.
I will be thinking on this post, which is good :)
ReplyDeleteI think faith is different for each of us.
All the best Jan
Many thanx Jan. Yes, faith is a different experience depending on what people want to believe.
DeleteGod bless you.
Not only the words in vs. 13 but the entire context of 1Cor. chapter 10 refers to temptation and sin...why was the word "tempted" changed to "tested"? I just checked with several sources and see that this verse, like the rest of the chapter, is about temptation/sin. This verse is often taken out of context and used to illustrate a different idea than what is written, ie the idea that God "doesn't give us more than we can handle" (thereby negating our need to lean on Him as our sufficiency), though the chapter says nothing of the kind. Not a criticism :); just an observation.
ReplyDeleteThank you ChiaOwl for your clarification.
DeleteGod bless.