Faith From Beginning To End

There is a story in the Bible that I especially love to read and is a real faith booster.  It is the story of Abraham, when God tested him with his son Isaac.  The reason I especially appreciate this story is because Abraham had faith from beginning to end.

You see, many of us have faith but we don’t have it until the end.  When the difficult times come we may react with a lack of faith and it’s not until the very end, when we see God work that we suddenly gain our faith.  But I believe that God is looking for us to have faith from beginning to end.

Consider this story of Abraham and Isaac.  From the very beginning Abraham’s faith is evident.  In Genesis 22:2 God tells Abraham to take his son to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain. 

Can you imagine such a request?  I have to admit that I don’t think I would respond as Abraham did.  It says that he rose early the next morning and gathered everything he needed, including wood for the burnt offering.  This is the first clue of Abraham’s faith.  He didn’t protest, he didn’t ask God why.  He simply went.

Then we see yet another glimpse of his faith when he takes Isaac to be sacrificed but tells his servants that they are going over to a place to worship and “we” will worship and return to you.  Notice he says we will return.  I can only surmise that deep inside Abraham trusted God enough that he didn’t really have to be concerned about Isaac’s sacrifice.  Continuous faith.

Our next realization of his faith is when he and Isaac are walking and his son is confused about the burnt offering.  He points out that they have the wood but where is the lamb.  Abraham’s response is, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering.”

He sees no sign of a lamb anywhere.  Yet his faith remains strong.  To me that is absolutely amazing.  I think of the way I would be acting and I’m sure I would be hysterical at this point and crying, asking God to quickly provide a substitution for my child. 

Then the ultimate moment of faith is displayed when Abraham binds his son and lays him on the altar.  Would he really do it?  He even stretched out his hand and took the knife that would slay his son.  But just then an angel intervenes.  He has passed the test.  He has demonstrated true faith from beginning to end…and then God provides a ram. 

This is the kind of faith God wants us to have when we face tests and trials, faith that lasts from beginning to end.