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 Abraham: Trusting God’s Purposes and Plans

To follow God is to often be put to the limits of trust. Abraham’s life is a study in this truth.

God “friended” him the first time while he was still known as Abram, promising him that He would bless him and that a great nation would descend from him if he left his country and clan to go to Canaan. Abram left without question and wandered into the unknown desert with his wife Sarai. God had called him; he would go, and without hesitation.

The next several years saw Abram’s trust and obedience both wobble and grow. God reiterated His promise of making him father of a great nation, even giving him a new name, Abraham (“father of multitudes”). But Abraham also struggled with believing God’s promise so much that he took Sarai’s (now Sarah’s) maid, Hagar, as a lover and fathered a son through her before God’s promised child was born to his wife.

But Abraham’s trust, though it wavered, was never abandoned. And at 100 years old, he became father to his and Sarah’s son, Isaac. God’s promise finally fulfilled.

But then God stretched Abraham’s faith again. This time, to sacrifice his precious son. And Abraham obeyed, taking Isaac to a mountain, preparing the pyre and answering his son’s question about where the sacrifice would be found by saying, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8).

As Abraham moved to sacrifice his son, the angel of the Lord stayed his hand, and he saw a ram in a thicket, which he sacrificed. For his obedience, Abraham received another promise of numerous descendants and abundant prosperity. And that promise was fulfilled.

Being “friended” by God and following where He calls us means trusting in His plans for our lives, even when we’re not sure of the outcome or even the point. Ultimately, He asks us to trust in His goodness, and that where He leads us there is blessing.