Day 3 - A Testing of Your Faith

In the first 4 verses of James, we find out that the reason God allows trials in our lives is to test our faith. One great example of that in the Bible is the story of Abraham, in Genesis 22. Earlier in Genesis (chapters 12,15,17), God promised Abraham that He would give Him a son, and through that son would come a nation of people, eventually known as the nation of Israel. It took a long time to receive that promise of a son through Sarah, but God kept His promise, and Isaac was born.

But, then we read in Genesis 22:1: "...God tested Abraham..."
How did He test him? By asking him to go up a mountain, lay his son (the promised son, Isaac) on an altar, and then offer him as a sacrifice (kill him)! Why in the world would God ask that of him? The Bible says: God was testing His faith. He was not playing mind games with him, or just fooling around. This was serious: God was proving Abraham's faith and Abraham was going to grow through this experience. God spared Isaac, but the point was made: Abraham was willing to follow in faith:

Hebrews 11:17-19 - "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."

This didn't make much human sense, that God would ask Abraham to kill his own son. But, instead of doubting, Abraham believed that God would still keep His promises, even if it meant raising Isaac back from the dead. Many times, my trials don't make much human sense to me. I must put it back in God's hands. I must just humbly obey, knowing, believing that God knows what He is doing. I trust Him.