Hope RisesSample

Abraham is one of the most recognizable names in the Bible. He has a huge story, and when it comes to finding hope, he faced some of the hardest moments and still rose to the occasion in some of the darkest times.

One of the hardest moments of Abraham’s story is in Genesis 22. Abraham and his wife Sarah had desperately wanted a son for a very long time. In fact, God had promised Abraham very early in his story that God would make him into a “great nation;” He was promised lots of kids, a large family, and generations of large families. However, years after God makes this promise Abraham still doesn’t have a son. Abraham asks and asks, and God promises and promises, and after a lot of waiting God provides Isaac. Isaac was a long-awaited answer to a long-present question. Would God follow through on what He promised Abraham and Sarah? YES!

In Genesis 22 God does something unimaginable. He asks Abraham to sacrifice his son by killing him and burning him (brutal, right?). Why would God ask this? What purpose could this serve? These questions and many more likely rattled through Abraham’s head as he led Isaac up a mountain to do what God had asked of Him. This situation would have definitely felt heavy, emotional, and completely hopeless.

Still Abraham builds an altar, ties up his son, and gets ready to do the unthinkable.

Then hope steps in. An angel cries out and tells Abraham, “Don’t lay a hand on that boy!” (22:12). Hebrews describes this moment as a time where Abraham “received his son back from the dead” (Heb.11:19). That’s not because Isaac actually died, but because Abraham had already, in his heart, counted the loss of Isaac as a reality. He was willing to give up the most valuable thing in his life to follow God completely.

When it comes to discovering true hope, sometimes we need to get to the end of ourselves to find what God wants for us.

This is what makes hope somewhat of a paradox—we don’t truly discover it until we are completely without it. Abraham thought his son would die, and then God stepped in. God did something unexpected, and Abraham’s faith was rewarded.

How could God be pushing you to the end of yourself today? Great things could be waiting!