Abraham and God's Promises

If you are a Christian, God has made you a promise. 

That promise is manifold. He will be your stronghold in times of trouble (Psalm 9:9), he will guide you and care for you like a shepherd (Psalm 23), and all for you will work together for good (Romans 8:28). These are things that he has promised, irrevocably, long ago. He's not going back on them; they're set in stone. And they're something you can cling to in the darkest days. 

But in the valley of the shadow of death, it can be hard to see your Shepherd. How can you be sure he's there? He's promised, but how can you be sure that the promise will be fulfilled? 

One good way to reassure yourself that God will, in fact, keep his promises, is to look back at times in the past where he's proven himself trustworthy. And a good example of trusting in God's promises even when it seems that there's no possible way for it to be fulfilled is Abraham. 

Abram was old. Sarai, his wife, was old—way too old to have kids. But despite that, they'd been chosen by God to fill a special role: to be the parents of a great nation, who would be God's people. And along with a new name change, their lives were transformed by the miraculous birth of a son. (Two sons, actually, but that's not relevant to the story.)

Isaac was the answer to a promise that God had made. And Abraham and Sarah were happy. They knew God kept his promises, because they'd seen it, and the promise was one that really shouldn't have been able to be kept. They had faith in God's power, because it had proven itself to them time and time again.

Then God came to Abraham with an astonishing command: "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." (Genesis 22.)

What? 

Imagine what Abraham must have felt. Imagine the shock, the confusion, the horror at the idea of offering your own young son as a sacrificial lamb. Imagine the unwillingness you'd have felt to obey God's command. 

But Abraham remembered the promise: "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." (Genesis 21:12.) 

God had already told Abraham and Sarah that Isaac would be the line through which God's chosen people would come. The command didn't seem to go with that, but God would not retroactively switch the kingdom's future to go through Ishmael, or even another son that Abraham and Sarah would have. And so, Abraham did as God said. Because he trusted that God would fulfill his promise. 

You probably know how the rest of the story goes. Abraham and Isaac go up to the mountain, and the sacrifice almost takes place. But at the last second, God stops it, and provides a sacrificial ram to die in Isaac's stead. Abraham obeyed God, knowing that God wouldn't go back on his word—and the faith bore fruit. 

So if you think that God isn't keeping his promises to you, wait. Have faith, and pray. Because God will, and God is.