THE FINAL TEST OF FAITH

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  03/23/23

After 25 years of waiting in faith, Abraham and Sarah finally received the first “star” God promised. Abraham was already 100 years old when Sarah, herself 91, gave birth to Isaac. Imagine Abraham’s joy as he held his son for the first time, reflecting on the long journey of faith he had walked with God.

When Abraham finally had a star he could see, God commanded him to give it up, to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering (see Genesis 22). But here’s the amazing thing: Abraham didn’t complain. He didn’t question. He didn’t give God a long list of excuses. Abraham simply obeyed. We don’t know exactly what was going through Abraham’s mind as this was taking place, but in Hebrews 11 we read, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (v. 19).

Abraham’s faith had come a long way since the days when he stalled in Harran or fled to Egypt for safety. He knew now that there could be no conflict between the promises of God and God’s ability to fulfill them. He knew that if God had said Isaac was the son of promise, through whom many more promises would be fulfilled, then the Lord would find a way to keep His word. Abraham knew God could accomplish this, even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead.

Abraham exercised faith and trusted the God of the impossible, and because of his faith, God allowed him to see something incredible: a foreshadowing of the cross, where God’s only Son, Jesus, would be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

As father and son walked up Mount Moriah that day, Isaac noticed something was missing for their burnt offering. He asked, “[W]here is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7). Two thousand years later, John the Baptist, standing along the Jordan River, answered when he saw Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

What “star” is God calling you to count today? Let Abraham’s testimony be yours, too. His faith was not in vain, and neither is yours. For, “from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:12).

Prayer: Lord, I praise You for Your gift of salvation; it is the brightest and best star I can count. Help me to remember Your many promises that stem from that precious gift and to trust in You, counting stars from here to eternity. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:19).