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Absolute Trust

Words of Faith Final

Absolute Trust
Words of Faith 4-21-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL    
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 22        
     [3] Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. [4] On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. [5] He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
    [6] Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, [7] Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
    "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
    "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
    [8] Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
    [9] When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

        It is difficult to imagine this particular journey of faith. There could not have been any joy in it. Abraham left early in the morning with Isaac and two servants. They headed for the region of Moriah, about 50 miles to the north. This mountain would eventually become the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the most sacred place ever set apart by God for worship. Abraham was careful to leave the servants at a distance so that they could not intervene once they realized what was going to happen. There was no turning back.
       Isaac finally broke the silence of the journey to ask why there was no lamb. The only answer available was that God would provide. "God will provide."  This is the heartbeat of the faith walk.
       Even more stunning than the faith of Abraham to lay his only son on an altar is the faith of Isaac to allow all this! We do not know how old Isaac was, but scholars suggest he was between 11 and 17 years old. Abraham was undoubtedly a sturdy old fellow, but he was between 111 and 117 years old. Do you know an 11-year-old boy who could not wiggle free from a 100-year-old man?  
       What we see here is not just the faith of Abraham to offer his only son back to God, but the absolute trust of the son, Isaac, to offer himself! Of course, this is a powerful image of the sacrifice of Christ. It speaks not only of the resolve of the Father but the trust of the Son.
       The book of Hebrews describes this faith. "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death" (Hebrews 11:17-19).   Abraham had already seen Isaac raised from the "dead womb" of Sarah. Indeed nothing was too difficult for God. God would provide.
       The journey of faith calls us to trust God no matter what. That is not easy.   We cannot even fathom what it will mean when we begin the journey. None of us will ever be called to lay a child on a literal altar (this would be against the Law of God), but we may be called to let go of something or someone we love very much. Like Isaac, we may be called to trust God in a situation that seems impossible. This is the journey of faith.
       Are you walking with God? Nothing is more exciting. Nothing is more challenging. Nothing brings us to the end of ourselves quite like it. Have you heard the beckoning invitation of God? It is time to trust.

       Father God, I trust You. I cannot know where You will call me. I cannot know the challenges ahead. But I do know You. You are trustworthy and true. Nothing is impossible with You, who have raised the dead. I trust You.  In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.