September 22, 2024

FAITH WORTH FOLLOWING:

WHEN FOLLOWING GOD IS HARDER THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE

September 22, 2024

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 What is the most difficult moment you have had in your life? Were you able to rest in God with a trust than seemed to defy understanding, or did you need to be reassured that God really does exist? As we continue our study of Genesis, today we see Abraham being tested beyond anything we can imagine—he was being called to kill his only son by his wife, Sarah. To have a child die is heavy cross for any parent to bear, but to be asked by God to kill your only child was a once-in-history testing of someone’s faith. Abraham did not fail God. He trusted because he had learned in his life that God will always have a reason for asking what you think is impossible, because He has a better plan.

 

Focal Passage: Genesis 22:1-19.

Faith can (will) be tough:

  • Read Gen. 22:1-2. What were the “things” referred to in vs. 1? Why does God test us at times? Read Deut. 8:2 and 1 Chron. 29:17. Do these verses confirm your answer?
  • When Abraham had been called out of Ur, what did he do (Gen. 12:4a)? Ten years pass. Read Gen. 15:4-6. Had God intended Abraham’s heir to be Ishmael? Why not? Fourteen more years pass. Read Gen. 17:16-17-19. Did God hold Abraham’s reaction (laughing) against him? Read Luke 1:13,18-20. What was the difference?
  • Abraham had been trusting God for much more than twenty-five years. Had God ever failed him? Remembering his conversation with God regarding Sodom and Gomorrah (last week), how strong was Abraham’s relationship with God?

Faith still requires obedience:

  • Read Gen. 22:3-6. How did Abraham respond to God’s instructions? Did he do everything God had told him to? How long did the trip to Mt. Moriah take? What was his promise to the two servants? Was his faith—trust—strong at that point? How do you know? Read Heb. 11:17a,19. When did his trust in this situation kick in?
  • Abraham lived before the giving of the law, yet he would have known instinctively that murder—sacrificing his only son—would be out of line with God’s character as he knew Him. Considering this, do you think he fully trusted that God would not ask it of him unless He (God) was going to perform a miracle—or something?
  • How do we show obedience when God calls you to do something? What does it take to begin?

Faith will test you in ways you never thought possible:

  • Read Gen. 22:7-10. Do you think Abraham explained to Isaac what was going to happen when they reached the place of sacrifice? Why would he not have done so? What do you think was going through the mind of Abraham at this point?
  • We see the scene in our minds, but it is influenced by our own culture or movies of Abraham. What type of conversation would have gone on? Read Psa. 103:8-11. Abraham believed God—period. What had been some of the promises made to him that God had fulfilled? Do you think Isaac had a willing heart and a trust in God?

But God is always faithful:

  • Read Gen. 22:11-13. How clear is it that Abraham was willing to go through with the killing of his son? What did we read in Hebrews 11:19?
  • Is there any other way God can develop our Christian character, other than testing?

Read Deut. 7:9. Is there any way we can learn God is faithful, other than being tested? What is the difference between being tested and being tempted?

God will always reward your faithfulness:

  • Read Gen. 22:15-18. What did the Lord call out to Abraham in verse 15? How was God going to bless all nations through Abraham?
  • Who does this promise apply to? How are we able to develop our faith and trust in God so that it is like Abraham’s? Is there any way to do it except through trials?

ACTION POINTS:

  • Never hesitate at the call of God. When God tells you to go, go.
  • When the journey is rough, keep moving toward Him. Never stop going forward.
  • Be ready for the move of God’s hand. He will always show you which way to go.

Close:   Do you long for a faith as strong as Abraham’s? One that won’t flinch when God gives you instructions? Do you act quickly to carry them out? We think back to when Abraham was seventy-five: God told him to leave his country, his family, to go to a place he did not know. He instantly started his journey. In today’s passage, Abraham had to wait one hundred years before having a son by his wife. Then, God told him to take Isaac, go to Mt. Moriah and offer his son as a sacrifice on an altar. Abraham rose early and began the three day trip. When did his trust become plain to God? The first morning? The night before they left? Did he wrestle that night, as Jacob did years later, wanting to know how God was going to fulfill His promise that “in Isaac would your seed be blessed”? The writer to the Hebrews said Abraham trusted God so completely that he knew, even if he actually stuck the knife in Isaac, that God would somehow bring His promise about. He had that much faith.  May we, too, have a faith that shows we wholly trust God to fulfill His promises.

 

By Sandy Day

September 22, 2024

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