Abraham, Part 3-July 16, 2023

Abraham Recap:Called to leave his family and trust God at age 75God gives him a promise of descendants and landTakes matters into his own hands at age 85Ishmael is born at age 86God renews his promise at age 99Isaac is born at age 100dismisses Ishmael because that wasn’t god’s planGod tells him to sacrifice his remaining sonWhy does God test people? This is an important question and a difficult theology… The bigger question is whether the testing is for God or if it is for us. The OT writers make it sound like God is finding out just how faithful Abraham is by testing him. Since God already knows how we will respond to things and the measure of our faith, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the testing is for our sake and not for his. It’s a matter of growth through proof. We are proving to ourselves that we have the faith that it takes to fully trust God. A secondary product of testing is our testimony. This testimony does not merely belong to us, it belongs to everyone. Perhaps the most overlooked outcome of Abraham's’ testing is the fact that he would become the archetype for God’s expectation of obedience and devotion from all of Israel. Your testing is creating God’s testimony to a world that is still learning how to fully trust in God.God is able to bring it back to life again. Press on to what God has in store. There will be too many temptations to run back to what was comfortable or what we know. When we trust in God, we become recipients of the blessing. He is not ashamed to be called our God. We have so much faith in what he is working that we wouldn’t dream of trading it for where we’ve been and what we’ve known.Am I seeking the promise or the promise maker? My love of the promise can’t be greater than my love for the Promise Maker. Once I receive the promise, I can’t let the joy of my reception replace my desire for the one who gave me the promise. Am I moving forward toward what God has in store for me, or has my promise become an idol that is creating distance between me and God. It isn’t going the way I thought it would. It didn’t happen when I thought it would happen. Now, I have the promise and that’s enough for me. I no longer need the promise maker.