#113: Giants of Faith V: Abraham obeyed, not knowing whither he went.

It was faith that made Abraham obey God when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations. Hebrews 11: 8-10

Glory be to God for another opportunity to study at His feet. Today we will be looking at the life of father Abraham. Abraham, someone we know a lot about and probably overlook the fact that he was a man like us, but his life walk with God can challenge our faith in God. May God give us insight as we briefly discuss the faith of Abraham.

Abraham was an old man when God met him. He was a settled man at his age. He had already accepted his fate. He knew he would not be growing any taller, he would not be growing any stronger, any thing that he could not achieve in his youth was lost for life. He didn't have a child, and he was already used to being called the rich man without an heir. He was the first son of his father - the heir to the inheritance. And that is the person that God approached and told to abandon everything and embrace a new life. When you understand that Abraham was advanced in age by the time God came to him, you get to understand the weight of the decision that Abraham made. When you realise what Abraham was leaving behind to obey God, you get to understand the weight of his decision. When you understand that he was already settled before God appeared to him, you understand that there must have been a force that prompted him to obey God.

If the place that God was telling Abraham to go to was a place known to him, we could have argued that Abraham had no reason not to obey God, but Abraham found himself in a position where a grey haired man would go to say goodbye to his relatives because God told him to move, and when he was asked where he was going to, he would say he does not know. At this point you realise that there must have been something more than gut that made him to obey God. Abraham obeyed God's call, not knowing whither...

When Abraham finally came to the land that God had promised him, alas, it was not empty. Yet Abraham trusted God. Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations. Abraham had a different definition of reality. He was keeping his eyes on what people around him could not see. He lived as a foreigner in the land that God promised him, and he confidently told this to his children. Today this would be like paying rent in a house that you claim you built, or requiring a visa to be in your home country. Yet Abraham believed God. How big was Abraham's heart? There was something Abraham saw that was bigger than every limits surrounding him, and God must open our eyes to see the same thing. God must help us to build our faith in Him.

Brothers and sisters, Abraham was a man like us, he dared to believe God. He chose faith in an impossible and unreasonable situation. He held to higher esteem the things that he heard from God over the things that his physical eyes were seeing and what his human mind could sense. Today Abraham is regarded as the father of our salvation. To an extent, Abraham had to trust God alone, or else be doomed or be the joke of the land. He didn't know where he was going to. He didn't have a map. He had to be in constant communion with God. He had to have total faith in God. It was faith that made Abraham to obey God. Without faith in God, we cannot obey Him. God deals with us at heights that we cannot sustain with our human strength and must trust Him totally.

Next week, we will continue the study in the life of Abraham to see other parts of his walk with God that can challenge our faith in God.

Thought: The just shall live by faith. What is God telling you to do? Does it sound reasonable? Do you believe God? If you feel overwhelmed by what God is laying on your heart to do, remember father Abraham. Abraham obeyed God not knowing whither. All he knew was God was able to do what He promised. We too can be like Abraham.