The bible calls Abraham the father of faith, therefore his faith is a good indicator of how to have faith for those of us who seem to lack this crucial ingredient of the Christian walk. I have been reading in the book of Genesis lately and had the opportunity to consider Abraham. I will share two elements of his faith that I see from his early life.
Before Abraham there was Abram. It is with this name that we are introduced to the one we call Abraham. Abram is a descendant of Shem, so he is among the generations of men that were born after the deluge of Noah’s time. We are told that Abram was from the land of Ur in Chaldea and that his father was Terah. He had two brothers, one of which died (Genesis 11:28). I believe this is the first recorded child’s death in the bible, the first time a parent had to go through the pain of burying their own child. A real testament to the fact that sin was present and there was distortion to what the Lord had originally intended. Another observation here is that Abram lived with his father Terah, his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot born to the brother that had passed. This was probably because Abram did not have children of his own and so he was still under his father’s authority. In fact, Abram’s father took him, his wife and Lot and left the land of Ur to go to Canaan. However, along the way, they settled in Haran instead. It is very interesting that Abram’s father had a desire to go to the land that would become the promised land before God had even said it to Abram. Canaan was always the final destination for Abram, little did he know. The story continues with Abram’s father eventually dying in Haran which means, Abram must have inherited everything. However this is where the Lord speaks to Abram and tells him to leave his country, to leave his people and his father’s household and to go to the land He would show him (Genesis 12:1). God also adds what he intends to do with Abram, that is, make him into a great nation, bless him, make his name great and bless nations through him. With all this information at hand, Abram obeyed God and set out from Haran to Canaan, the land God would show him. This is the first ingredient to Abram’s faith: obedience. Raw, blind obedience, if you will. He obeyed without asking any questions. Somehow, he recognized God as God and knew him to be supreme enough to be honoured and obeyed.
As Abram gets to Canaan, he begins to explore the land and pitch his tent to settle in. During his exploration, the Lord appears to him and tells him that he will give this land to his offspring (Genesis 12:7). So, on top of making him a great nation, God promises the land of Canaan to Abram. Abram then builds an altar to God and we are told he “called on the name of the Lord” which means Abram began to build a relationship with God. God’s plan for Abraham was also to grow in knowledge of Him. While in Canaan, there was a famine and Abram went to live in Egypt because there was food there. Interesting to note here that Abram didn’t seem to have questioned God at this point regarding his being in Canaan. He didn’t seem to mind that God called him to a land where there was “famine”, no, instead, Abram looked for solutions to his problem, by going to Egypt. As he was about to enter Egypt, Abram, concocts a plan to have his wife Sarai pass for his sister in order to have his life spared for he feared that her beauty would attract Egyptians and she would be taken away from him and he would be killed. Sarai accepts the plan and passes for his sister which leads her to become a wife to Pharaoh. Egypt eventually becomes such a blessing for Abram that it seems he has forgotten that the plan was not to settle there. It takes God’s intervention to get him out of Egypt by making it known to Pharaoh the hard way (Genesis 12:17) that Sarai was Abram’s wife which means he took what did not belong to him (reminds me of the tenth commandment). God had to intervene to not only bring his plan to pass but also save Abram from the mess he put himself in. Abram then leaves Egypt full of possessions acquired while there. The similarities with what his offspring would go through hundreds of years later are mind-blowing! As Abram grew, so his possessions also grew to the point where him and his nephew Lot could no longer live together for the land seemed small. Lot was like a son to Abram, so separating from him must have been hard but it had to come to this because God had a different plan. When Lot parted from Abram, the Lord appeared to him and reiterates what he had told him in the past, namely, that he would give the land of Canaan to him and to his numerous offspring (Genesis 13:14-17). For God to repeat himself, it is proof that Abram did not understand what God meant. I am convinced that Abram thought he was already made great, that what the Lord had said to him when he told him to leave his father’s house had already come to pass because he was indeed blessed, he had many possessions, and he was a blessing to others. So to have God add the land of Canaan to his possessions and tell him his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky was too grand, that is why in chapter fifteen, when God tells Abram that his reward will be great, Abram asks God the question “what can you give me since I remain childless?”. Abram here basically tells God that he is satisfied with the blessings he has had so far, and more blessings would simply go to his servants because he is childless. I was stunned at how Abram was not accusing God but simply stating the facts. Abram was also not telling God that he wanted a child, it seems Abram was a very content man, and he was fine living with what he had. I believe, he thought he was too blessed and couldn’t ask for more. However, because God is not limited and he gives far beyond what we can think or imagine, he then promised Abram a child. And we have the famous line “Abram believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness”. So this is the second level of Abram’s faith: believing in what you cannot see based on what God has promised to you.
I pray we all get to this level of understanding and faith. Not limiting God to our own abilities and understanding, rather believing him for his words. I pray we learn to trust him at all cost being patient and committed for it is worth it in the end.
A Word Aptly Spoken 