Abraham was a great man. A sinful man, a weak man but through the Lord a righteous man and a Godly man. Abraham was a great man. He was called to believe the impossible. Sometimes we forget this. When we read the story of Abraham, we already know the ending. We know what will happen. We know that the Lord would do all that He promised Abraham. But Abraham was a man like us. He lived as we do. He did not know the ending. There was so much time in between the promise of the Lord and the fulfillment. So when the Lord promised him a son, when He promised that he would be the father of many nation, more decedents than the stars and the sand on the shores, Abraham was called to believe the impossible. Through his eyes, he saw a barren wife and he saw his age. Through his human eyes, he saw all that hindered this promise. Yet Abraham believed the impossible and obeyed. "
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations as he had been told. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body which was as good as dead, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised (Romans 4:18-21)". Abraham believed the impossible. What would our lives look like if we really and truly believed the impossible? What would it be like to look at all the chaos that surrounds us and really believe that nothing is to great for the Lord? To really believe that the Lord holds all in His hands and nothing can stop Him from His will? Man plans, but God alone prevails. Hold on to this truth! Man plans, but God prevails. He always has and He always will.
J.I Packer wrote
"Abraham was not by nature a man of strong principle, and his sense of responsibility was somewhat deficient. But God in wisdom dealt with this easygoing, unheroic figure to such good effect that not merely did he faithfully fulfill his appointed role on the stage of church history, he also became a new man...Abraham developed habit of walking with God, resting in His revealed will, relying in Him, waiting on Him, bowing to His providence, obeying Him even when He commanded something odd and unconventional. From being a man of the world, Abraham became a man of God...We see him becoming a man of prayer. We see him at the end so utterly devoted to God's will and so confident that God knows what He is doing, that He is willing at Gods command to kill His own son, the heir for whose birth he waited so long."
God prevailed in Abraham's life. He won Abraham over. He worked on Abraham and changed Abraham until his heart and life was fully Gods. Abraham was a great man, but God was/is greater. He alone changes our hearts. He alone takes a sin-blistered heart and turns it into a paragon of virtue. He alone preforms the impossible, in our lives and in the situations around us. Nothing is to great for the Lord, even our own sins. Nothing keeps us from Him. Nothing separates us from Him. He brings order out of chaos and beauty out of ugliness. He did it with Abraham, He will do it to us as well.
May we be like Abraham, who obeyed the Lord when he was asked to believe the impossible. May we, like him become men and women of God who are so utterly devoted to the Lord and to His will. May we like Abraham believe in hope against hope that the Lord can and will do all that He promises. May we not waver in our faith, even when all we see is the darkness that surrounds us. But may we give glory to God and be at peace, fully convinced that the Lord is not only able, but will do what He has promised us. Soli deo gloria: Glory to God Alone.
