Trusting in God

Trust isn't easy. Too often I have put my trust in someone, only to end up feeling betrayed by them. I try to see the good in people, yet time after time, I walk away disappointed and frustrated. However, in order to have a good relationship with your family or friends, a certain level of trust is required. The same goes with God. 

With regard to trust, I have a lot of respect for Abraham. Yes, he made many mistakes, but so have I and so have you. There is always one incident recorded in the Bible that stands out to me. It's an amazing story. 

You can probably guess where I am going with this. This particular story is found in Genesis 22, and the story is about Abraham and his son, Isaac. The back story is very important here. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had no children at this point. This was a big deal in Biblical times. Being a barren woman during this time was heart-wrenching and often seen as a curse. The funny thing about this story is that God had promised Abraham (then Abram) that he would make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the night sky. The next verse says, "And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6 ESV) 

Wow. Abraham didn't question God, he didn't doubt God, he believed God. Pure trust. 

That's not even the best part of this story. Just as God promised, eventually Sarah gave birth to a son whom they named Isaac. What a happy ending for the two childless parents. I can only imagine the joy felt by all. After so many years of waiting, God blessed them and kept His promise (which He will always do). 

However, things were about to get ugly. Some time later, God spoke to Abraham (how cool is that? Imagine God speaking directly to you!) and told him to take his only son, Isaac, and go to a mountain to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. 

There were no arguments here. It says that Abraham awoke early the next morning, saddled his donkey, took two servants and his son, Isaac and set out for the mountain, complete with wood for the burnt offering. They get to the mountain and now Isaac is curious. He asks his father where the lamb is for the burnt offering. Abraham's reply is (in verse 8 of chapter 22), "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." They build the altar, Abraham arranges the wood on top, then he... wait, he what? He binds his son, his only son, and lays him on the altar. What are you doing, Abraham?! This is crazy! 

Just as Abraham is about to sacrifice his only child, an angel of God stops him, and God sends a ram for them to sacrifice in place of Isaac. Whew, that's a happy ending. 

Look at the level of trust that is involved in this story. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Abraham questioned what God was asking him to do. Abraham just did it. I have no doubt that if God had not stopped him, Abraham would have killed his son. Abraham had such a solid and deep relationship with God that no matter what God asked of him, he was willing to do in a heartbeat. No questions asked. 

What I would give to have a trust like that. I'd like to think that I would be able to do something like that, but in reality, I'm not so sure I could. If God asked me to sacrifice someone I love and care about, I don't know what I would do. It would be one of the hardest things I would ever have to do. I would question. I would doubt. I would cry and scream and drag my feet. 

The thing is, though, that we have no reason not to trust God at such a level. He is the Supreme Creator of all the universe, and bottom line, He is good. He has our futures mapped out and He knew everything about us before we were even born. A familiar verse in Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

You see, God isn't out to get us. He didn't ask Abraham to do this because He wanted to see Isaac killed or Abraham mourn. No! This wasn't some sick joke! This was God pushing Abraham to the edge of the cliff and saying, "Jump, my son, and I will catch you!" He was trying to get Abraham to take a giant step of faith. And Abraham did it. 

When it comes to the problems of our lives, we need to trust that God has the answer. No matter what we face, be it divorce, cancer, death, depression, anxiety, etc., we need to understand that God has us in the palm of His hand, and He will never let us go. We need to trust that the Almighty God is taking care of us and will not let us stumble. 

Trust is definitely not an easy issue, but by God's grace, I hope that Christians today can realize that by putting our trust in God, we will find ourselves freed from burdens and doubts. And let me tell you what a peaceful place that is.