“It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him.” ~ Hebrews 11:17 (NLT)
My son loved to climb and leap when he was very young. At four he fell off of a tall slide and bumped his head. Because he couldn’t remember what had happened, I told him we had to go to the emergency room. He put up a terrible fuss. He did NOT want to go.
Photo by: Michael Pdger
“It will be all right,” I said. “We have to go.”
He calmed down and complied. After the doctor examined him and left the room, Brant turned to me with searching brown eyes and asked, “Is he going to cut off my legs now?”
“You hurt your head,” I said, “Why would he cut off your legs?”
“Oh. Is he going to cut off my head?”
His resistance to going to the hospital finally made sense. I’d recently visited an elderly neighbor who had had both legs amputated. In his mind, a hospital was a place that cut off limbs.
Jesus said, “So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 18:4 NLT). That day, Brant showed me what childlike faith looks like. My son was willing to set aside his understanding and completely trust me even if it meant losing his legs.
Abraham, one of the greatest heroes of the faith, also demonstrated childlike faith. He was willing to set aside his understanding and completely trust God even if it meant sacrificing Isaac.
After waiting 25 long years to hold this baby, after savoring every facial expression, every word, and every moment with Isaac, Abraham could have reasoned with God and begged for a different test. “How can You fulfill Your promise if You take Isaac? You’ve already taken away Ishmael. You can take me, but please don’t take our laughter away.”
But Abraham didn’t argue or bargain. He humbly trusted his heavenly Father knew best. God had promised to give him descendants through Isaac. And He would keep His promise.
When my Bible study discussed this test, several called it a cruel test for Abraham. Since God is never sadistic, why would He put Abraham through this? Here are some possible reasons.
Why Test Abraham?
- To protect Abraham: Before the law was given to Moses, Abraham intrinsically knew he could have no others gods before the Lord. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). Anything we love more than God harms us and undercuts our potential. God was protecting Abraham. “Don’t transfer your hope onto Isaac.”
. - To testify to Abraham’s belief in the resurrection: Three major faiths trace back to Abraham. This story points to Jesus in a most affecting way and testifies to Abraham’s belief in God’s power to raise the dead.
. - To reveal how much God loved Jesus—and us: This test of a father and his beloved son humanizes the story of God offering His only Son. A cruel test? God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, but He gave His Son.
. - To display the genuineness of Abraham’s faith (1 Pet. 1:7): God wasn’t trying to break Abraham. He was showing off his faith.
. - To show the worthiness of Jesus. Abraham’s worship showed he recognized Christ’s worth.
Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Our greatest battles are not waged between love and hatred, but between two loves: our love for God and our love for God’s blessings. And the deeper we love, the more difficult is the test.” [1]
Childlike faith knows that God’s tests are not punishments. “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:3-4 NLT).
Abraham began his journey of faith by leaving his home, gods, and relatives in order to obey God. Through the decades, each act of obedience strengthened Abraham’s trust in God. He circumcised his men, lived as a stranger, and sent Ishmael away. Each test hurt in the way exercise leaves you sore but builds muscle.
Abraham's grownup faith trusted God in the most childlike way. Click To TweetHe packed his donkey and set off to sacrifice what he loved most in the entire world—because he loved God most of all.
Do we love God more than His gifts? Do we trust Him with what is most dear to us?
The more grown-up our faith, the more childlike our trust in God becomes. Click To TweetClick here to comment.
Blessings,
Debbie W. Wilson
[1] Warren W. Wiersebe, Run With The Winners (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1985), p. 81
Photo of girl by: Karl Fredrickson
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The more grown-up our faith, the more childlike our trust in God becomes.
This is so true, thank you for writing on this topic. I surrender it all to him; my life, my marriage, my children and how he wants to use me. My twin girls reflect the same as they rely and trust on every activity for the day. Their favorite phrase is whats next mommy? I can adapt that same childlike phrase with our father, whats next for your will? And whatever the plans my answer is YES. For HIS provision its what best and supersedes all other.
Blessings- Mrs. Thomas
Mrs. Thomas, that is beautiful! I love that, “What’s next Abba?”
Wow, Debbie, just “Wow!” I needed to read your words today. God has used them to encourage me and give me greater insight into that “meltdown” I wrote about on my blog but didn’t go into the specifics. Thank you so much, my friend! You are an amazing Bible teacher!
Thank you, my friend. Your encouragement means a lot to me, Beth.
Your story was such a powerful example of what child-like faith really is. I pray that we can all have that kind of trust and move forward even when the outcome seems to be unimaginable. Thanks so much for sharing this and broadening the picture of what child-like faith really is.
Yes, Judy, may God grant us the grace to trust Him in our trials with such faith. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
What a beautiful story and picture of childlike faith you shared about your son! It was especially meaningful to me today as my first grandchild was born Monday night! He is such a precious gift and to have the opportunity to watch him grow and come to know the Lord as I did my own children is just a blessing beyond words. I say often they taught me so much about God and life and the world – more I think than I taught them!
Congratulations Ann!! That is wonderful. Yes. They do teach us so much. Enjoy your new baby.
finally you make a good feature… and it's only available for two days. smart thinking youtube. /sarcasimyou really should make this a permanent feature. you can put ustream out of business.
ببینید در صورتی که میخواهید مپ ترمینال را هم داشته باشید ÙÂایل های اون مپ و ÙÂایل های iwd مخصوص این مپ که ØÂجمش بیشتر از ÙÂایل های معمولی و بدون این مپ هست رو دریاÙÂت کنید.
my favourite pieces are the egg ricking chairs (I want one for me!) and the kids tee pees they are gorgeous.All the colours of the incy egg chairs are beautiful but the mint leather is my favourite!
Your precious son and what he thought would happen, bless his heart. I want childlike faith – Childlike faith knows that God’s tests are not punishments. Thanks for this reminder, Debbie and for sharing with Thankful Thursdays.
Thank you, Lori!
Great insight! That’s the answer we’ve been looking for.
Thank you for sharing this with us at Grace & Truth, Debbie. This post is particularly poignant to me right now because of the election season. Many of us are near to despair as we consider the possibility of our American freedoms eroding in the upcoming years. I believe this is an example of how we are loving the blessing of God more than we are loving God Himself.
Jennifer, I think you are so right. What a relevant application. Maybe you should blog on that!
Well said, Debbie! Very timely! Thanks!
Thank you, Pam!
sto scrivendo su Affile e il mausoleo per la rivista torinese di storia Historia Magistra, spero sia pubblicato quanto prima, se non lo sarà ne parlerò altrove. Quanto condivido quello che ha scrittolei Rossella (ha tutta la mia solidarietà ) e quanta mancanza di diffusa cultura pubblica della storia e della storia del fascismo in particolare c’è in Italia. Parlare di Graziani si può fare in mille modi anche ad Affile, ci vogliono storici pubblici non chi oggi fa politica con la memoria acritica della storia