When God tests your faith, will your faith be confirmed? 

Abraham’s faith confirmed 

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now 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 and saddled his donkey, and took of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of His son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The Lord will provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” 

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son- blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.” Genesis 22: 1-19 

I have read the above verses numerous times; but tonight is the first time that the story just left me in sheer awe. I think one mistake we typically make when reading the Bible is we rush through it and we don’t let the weight of the words we are reading truly sink in. I tried to put myself in Abraham’s shoes, and hear the words of God to him as if they were being told to me, Gisèle, take now 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.

Just imagining those words makes my heart sink. And the call of God is always to trust Him beyond what we see, think, or feel. God, yet again I plead with You to help me “overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

The test 

Why does God tests us you ask? “To sanctify and cleanse us… that He present us to Himself, a glorious body, not having a sprinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26

God doesn’t test us just for “fun”. God isn’t in heaven just wanting to play with our lives; but the contrary is true, we play with our lives and by God’s mercy He intervenes to purify our hearts and our motives towards Him. Your motivation becomes crystal clear when you are being tested; there is no pretending or whatsoever here. In the past couple weeks I heard this saying, “You learn a lot about people when they don’t get what they want.” Biblically speaking, I would re-phrase the statement the following way, your actions and reactions during a test reveal who you are. Our actions expose what really is in our hearts. 

Abraham’s obedience revealed who he truly was: a man who feared God.  The Lord said the following about him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.

Is the test you are going through a testimony that you fear God? 

“And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…” Isaiah 7:3-4 

For every test God puts you through: Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint. And above all, lean on Him. Remind yourself of His character: that He is ever true and ever faithful. 

Frail heart, always remember this: 

“The Lord is righteous in all His way and kind in all His works.” Psalm 145:17 

“For the word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.” Psalm 33:4 

Psalm 33 verse 4 took my breath away when I read it for the first time weeks ago. Why is my heart slow to understand that all God’s work is done in faithfulness. 

Regardless of what I think, there is nothing that the Lord has brought into my life that wasn’t done in faithfulness. O God, forgive me for my unbelief. Forgive me for not being in awe of all that You bring into my life, for all is done in faithfulness. 

Father, the test that breaks my heart is the work of Your hand done in faithfulness. The heartache I face in my life is the work of Your hand done in faithfulness. Maybe my heart will breathe deeper and quieter tonight, even this, this is approved in my life in faithfulness. Forgive me Lord, for thinking my ways are Your ways; You alone are God. You alone, Father. 

“For my name’s sake I will defer my anger, 
    And for My praise I will restrain it from you, 
    So that I do not cut you off. 
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; 
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 
For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For how should My name be profaned? 
And I will not give My glory to another.” Isaiah 48:9-11

Is the test you are going through a testimony that you fear God? 

The just live by faith 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “the Just shall live by faith.” 

God has graciously been teaching me about faith over and over and over again. O how thankful I am that I serve a God who never gives up on us. God, I am forever thankful that You work tirelessly to sanctify and cleanse us, that You may present us to Yourself, a glorious body, not having a sprinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish. God, thank you for relentlessly desiring our purity. Thank You God for Your love for Your Church. 

Lavishing Rewards 

God rewards faith beyond our wildest dreams. Think of the miracles of Jesus in the gospels; how He would tell people He just healed, “your faith has made you well.” Or the words of God after Abraham obeys Him, by Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son- blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

Abraham act of obedience reaped a bountiful blessing, don’t you think? In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. All the nations were blessed because He obeyed God through faith by not withholding his son from God. 

Dear heart, please have faith and hang in there? The reward you are getting from Your heavenly will absolutely take your breath away if you don’t give up. 

Keep having faith through obedience. Keep pressing forward through surrendering to His will. Keep learning to discern His voice and obeying it. God is worth all the sacrifice we could ever make. 

Dear soul, our God is worth every sacrifice, every heartache, and every pain you will ever feel. 

“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man apart from works: 

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are 
      forgiven, 
And whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not 
      impute sin.” Romans 4:1-8

Through faith we believe unto righteousness; o beloved, is there any greater gift? 

Faith triumphs 

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope for the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2

Father, You are graciously growing my faith and I am truly forever thankful. Thank you for making us righteous through faith, Lord God. Thank You!