Faith through Surrender
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son – the son he had prayed for and waited for until he was in his nineties! Abraham was considered by God to be the father of faith for all future believers. God promised him that he would build an endless nation of followers who would imitate Abraham’s faith. To test that Abraham’s faith was up to this honor, God tested his willingness to hold nothing back from total trust and reliance on God.
Tested Faith
As disciples, we too are given blessings and promises from God. Perhaps we’ve been blessed to have a loving family, or good health, a great job, a safe home, freedom. All of us who are in Christ have received his promise of forgiveness and welcome into the family of Christ. As well, there may be things that we continue to long for and ask God for.
What promises of God mean the most to you and what are you still longing for him to fulfill?
Like Abraham, is your faith solid enough for you to sacrifice even your most desired blessing to honor God?
Along with blessings, testing will also come our way to challenge if our trust in and submission to God’s will are bigger than our desire to enjoy God’s promises.
Surrendered Faith
Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”a] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
Abraham believed and trusted God unconditionally. His surrender to God allowed him to be willing to sacrifice his son. Happily, the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from killing Isaac just in time to save him from sure death. Absolute trust requires surrender to God that he will provide in every circumstance of our life no matter how difficult or ‘hopeless’ it may appear. Surrendered faith requires trust in God over any and all worry, anxiety, pain, doubt, fear, sadness, and so on.
Abraham obeyed in complete faith that God would provide a solution that would spare the life of his son. He told his servants to wait with the donkey and that “we” would return from the mountain. He knew somehow that Isaac would return with him (Hebrews 11:17-19) and he trusted his servants to be there when he needed him. The testing of our faith gives God a chance to see that we are truly his disciples (Luke 14:33) who will withhold nothing from him. Times of testing also give us opportunity to lean on those close to us for support. If we have faith like Abraham to trust and surrender all to God, we can experience firsthand God’s promise to provide for us always.
Question for Reflection:
Where is your faith today?
What are some promises from God that your faith is built on? What promises and dreams are you longing to see come true?
What tests are you facing that lead you to doubt, worry, or shrink back?
Practical:
Pray and fast to surrender everything to God that keeps you from complete and total trust.
Thanks for reading this Christian Blog series: “Sermonized”. We will have a blog post every Monday ready for your quiet time!
