The Life of Faith

It is a remarkable thing that Abraham is listed in that Hall of Fame of the Faithful found in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.   He certainly did not model perfection.  He modeled the flawed as well as the faithful man.  Out of fear he tried to pass off his wife as his sister, he attempted  to make the promise of God happen by having a son with Hagar, and he failed to trust in God's provision when he went to Egypt.  Yet, overall, the trajectory of his life moved him toward a life of faith and trust in God.    

In the beginning of his life with God, the Word says, "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you....' " (Genesis 12:1)  And when the writer of Hebrews spoke of faith, he pointed to Abraham as he said, "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going."  (Hebrews 11:8)  What is so remarkable is that Abraham left everything familiar as well as everything which spoke of security in his life for a journey to an unknown destination.  When he started out, he had no idea of where he was going.  He only knew that God was calling him to go to a land we might call "Know Not Where."     

The truth is that when God calls us, He always calls us to go with Him to an undesignated destination.  His call is to follow no matter what happens, to go wherever He leads, and to give up the plans of our own agenda for the plans that He only reveals to us in bits and pieces.  Faith means to be abandoned to a God who calls us to the unfolding life and to go with a trust that seeks nothing from Him but being with Him.  Faith is not about getting anything from God, but being with God in any all the circumstances of life.  For the faithful the worst thing is not being poor, or broken, or dying, but being without God.  "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me."  (Psalm 51:11)