God has a habit of asking his people to do difficult things. Unthinkable things. Nonsensical things. He asked Noah to build a 400 foot ark in the middle of dry land. He asked Gideon to send 32,000 troops home before the battle with the Midianites, leaving him only 300 men. And he asked Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman—a prostitute. In all such instances, God calls his people to radical obedience. He calls us to trust Him.
But do we? The issue isn’t just whether we obey. The issue is how we obey. Do we do the difficult thing God is calling us to do with hope and confidence that all things works for good? Or do we obey God with a sense of resignation and despair? I fear the latter is all too often the case. Sure, we may do the unthinkable thing God is asking us to do. But, we have already determined ahead of time that all hope is lost. No good can come from this. So, we obey out of sheer duty.
But there is a better way. And Abraham models it for us. Perhaps no one was tested more deeply and profoundly than Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his one and only son (Gen 22:1). Not only was this the beloved boy that he and Sarah had waited and longed for, but all the promises of God converged upon him. Abraham had been told that all nations would be blessed through his offspring—blessings that included the coming of the promised Messiah. And Isaac was the key to all of these promises.
While this scenario would certainly constitute a good basis for wallowing in despair, Abraham does not take this path. Instead, he does something radical. He believes. We see this amazing faith at a point in the story that is often overlooked. After reaching Mt. Moriah, Abraham tells 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.” Notice that Abraham expressly states that both he and the boy will return from the mountain. This is not just Abraham putting on a good face for his servants. Abraham really believed that somehow, someway God would keep his promises regarding Isaac. In fact, Hebrews 11:19 tells us why Abraham was so confident, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead.”
In other words, Abraham didn’t just obey God. He obeyed with hopefulness. He obeyed with a Godly optimism. And that is the only way we can obey God in the midst of unthinkable trials. And it is the only way we can obey God over the long term. Our obedience must flow from our belief that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Rom 8:28).
Robbie says
That was a very biting post. I am very glad to have read it. Seems like when we pray for God to increase our faith, he most increase the hope that goes along with it. For the most part I wonder how people look at the word hope. We tend to look at hope very iffy – like hope is an uncertainty. You know kind of like “maybe it will maybe it won’t we just have to hope for the best” But that isn’t Biblical hope. Can you imagine if it was? Take the epistle of Peter: “Be ready to give a defense of the uncertainity (hope) that you have….” Thank goodness that isn’t real hope, Biblical hope!! Hope: a confident expectation, something God cultivated in Abraham based upon who God is, and who God is is such a beautiful thing to see. Who could ever be like Him
dean says
Do I…No, not as I should…
In my inability, it is much easier to gaze at the stars or the sea shore & leave it at that. So I figure I choose the less challenging walk at times & end up like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, worn out & weary in spirit & not seeing things as I should. Thankfully I have a shepherd who knows best. His wisdom & patience comes when I least expect it & the thread of words above reminds me of what I have been given in Christ.
Rev. Bryant J. Williams III says
Dear Michael,
Excellent post. We could all give other examples. I would also say that Noah, Joseph and Daniel are also excellent examples of obedience. True, Abraham is mentioned in Hebrews 11, but Noah, Joseph and Daniel appear in different contexts of obedience when nothing else showed the way by faith.
Noah, obeyed even when mocked for 120 years for building a big boat, barge, ark in the middle of dry land. Rain? You got to be kidding me? Yet Moah built the Ark.
Joseph’s story is really interesting considering the blessing of being the favorite son, betrayal at the hands of his half-brothers, Potiphar’s wife and languishing in prison for about 7 years before Pharoah’s dream and subsequent release and promotion. Eventually, Joseph’s dream of his brothers and father bowing before him does occur. But, what is truly marvelous in all that had happened is the belief of the promise that God would bring the Israelites out of Egypt about 400 years later in 1445 BC. He had the Israelites promise to take his body with them when they left (cf. Genesis 50:24-26; Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32).
Finally, Daniel’s trials before Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius (at least are recorded). His faith, belief and trust in the God of Israel to deliver him and His people (Daniel 9 quoting and believing in the 70 years of exile as prophesied by Jeremiah). Then, there is prophesies of Daniel 2, 7-12 that are amazing for their accuracy hundreds of years before they happened.
One last word is that I remind myself is that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but the shortest distance between two points in the Lord’s Will is the long way around. Why? To do what God wants us to do is not in our nature. We will balk at going to some place God wants us to go initially, but by the time we get from A to B to C to D, etc., to finally, point Y, then we will want to go to Point Z which is where the Lord wanted us to be in the first place.
Yes, we are sheep and we are also a stiff-necked and rebellious people.
Michael Kruger says
Thanks, Bryant. Very good reminders of how this theme pervades all of Scripture.
DAK says
Thanks, I needed to hear this, today: “Today if you hear His voice harden not your hearts” (Ps. 95:8)