Faith and Obedience

I have been doing a lot of thinking about faith and obedience lately. 

The reason? 

Because I have been trying to figure out what it is that keeps me from being obedient to what the Lord has called me to do. No matter if it's as small as "Talk to Me, Linzy," or as big as "Go to ____," I seem to have trouble with just immediately obeying. And let me confess why...

I doubt.

I doubt if it is really the Lord telling me to do something or if it just my flesh or the enemy;
I doubt if what the Lord is telling me is really the best way to do things; 
I doubt that He has His sovereign plan and that there is nothing to worry about; 
I doubt that He has gone before me and prepared the way.

What made me realize this was reading in Hebrews, which then took me all the way back to Genesis to read the complete story of Abraham.

You see, in Genesis 15, God establishes His covenant with Abram to make him a father of nations even though Abram and his wife, Sarai, had no offspring. God said to Abram, "Your very own son shall be your heir...look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them...so shall your offspring be." And [Abram] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness (v. 4-6).

Upon the Lord making this promise to him, Abram cut the animals in half that the Lord told him to bring and then the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon Abram. It was the custom of that day for the two people who were making a binding agreement with one another to walk through the pieces of the animals together, which was making the statement "If I do not hold to my end of the deal, then let what has happened to these animals happen to me." 

But the amazing part about THIS covenant was that it was one sided. Only God walked through those animal pieces while Abram was in a deep sleep because God knew that only He can uphold the covenant, and for all of the times in the future that Abram or his offspring would disobey, God would have to be the one to pay for it because He was the only one who made that covenant.  

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you” (Hebrews 6:13-14).

Hence, Jesus!!! 

God had to come to earth and atone for the sins of all of us who would have never been able to walk through those animal pieces with the Lord God Almighty because in so doing, our death would have ensued.

So, now that we understand just how big of a deal this covenant is, meaning that God could never go back on His Word which would go against His very character, let's continue with Abram's story.

In chapter 16, we see that Abram and his wife doubted that God was going to fulfill His promise to them by giving them a son, so they tried to take things into their own hands. Abram slept with his wife's servant and she bore him a son, but this is not the son that the Lord God had promised to Abram.

So still, at this point, Abram and Sarai have not conceived, but in chapter 17, God changes Abram's name to Abraham, which means "father of a multitude" and changes Sarai's name to Sarah, and then tells them that in a year, Sarah would give birth to the promised son, Isaac. 

Fast-forward a bit to chapter 21 and we see that Isaac was born... and then in chapter 22, we see that God asks Abraham to sacrifice his promised son.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him (Genesis 22:1-3).

WHAT?! God told Abraham to sacrifice the very son that He had promised to him, to make him a father of nations... and Abraham just got up, and went to do it. He just obeyed!

This is the part that always stumped me. Isaac was Abraham's son and I could not understand how in the world a father could just say, "Okay, God! I'll go kill my son because You told me to."

And HERE is where Hebrews comes in again!!! (I can hardly contain my excitement about this Truth!!!)

By FAITH Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back (Hebrews 11:17-19).

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Abraham had so much faith in God and His promises (which are inseparable because God's character is Truth) that he obeyed and took his promised son to the altar, ready to sacrifice him, trusting that if the Lord wanted him to actually kill his son, then GOD WOULD RAISE HIM FROM THE DEAD in order to still be upholding His covenant!!!

This unyielding obedience that we see in Abraham was rooted in his absolute faith in God. 

Oh, I am so guilty of not having faith! Sure, I say that I trust God and that I know that He is sovereign, but does my heart actually believe that? Because if it did, would I not have the same unyielding response as Abraham instead of doubting?

Wow. Pride check! I begin to shy away from the Lord after reading all of this because I am so ashamed.

But then, sweet, sweet Jesus draws me back in.

"Keep reading my Word," He says. So, I do.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided" (Genesis 22:11-14).

That ram is Jesus!

For all of the times that I have doubted if it is really the Lord telling me to do something or if it just my flesh or the enemy... 
JESUS has atoned for my doubt!
For all of the times that I have doubted if what the Lord is telling me is really the best way to do things... 
JESUS has atoned for my doubt!
For all of the times that I have doubted that He has His sovereign plan and that there is nothing to worry about... 
JESUS has atoned for my doubt!
For all of the times that I have doubted that He has gone before me and prepared the way... 
JESUS has atoned for my doubt!

For all of the times that I have doubted and not had faith... JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!

I am left praying for more grace to have faith, that I may obey my Lord without question.

I encourage you to go read Hebrews 11, the "faith chapter," as many know it to be called, and see how each person mentioned who had faith ACTED... and then pray for the Spirit to move in your heart to be active, not passive; obedient, not doubtful.