Have you ever been faced with a circumstance that threatens everything you know? Maybe it shakes up your world a bit and leaves you feeling confused and unsure of what to do next. Maybe it's a seemingly impossible task that you don't know how to accomplish or defeat. Those moments are always the hardest to have faith, aren't they? I'm not talking about having faith in the sense of believing in God for salvation. I'm talking about faith to believe that God is really who He says He is, and faith that believes He really does love you, even when it's hard to see. A faith that believes God is good and everything He does is good. A faith so radical that we know whatever happens, He will still be good. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible (I say this a lot, I know), is Hebrews 11. Of course the whole chapter is eye-opening and amazing, so you should totally read it yourself, but I wanted to share with you today just a few of my favorite verses. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (verse 1) "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." (verse 8) "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son." (verse 17) I love these verses about Abraham. He gets like six or seven verses dedicated to talking about his faith in this chapter! Wow. What a faith he must have had. And if you look at his story you see just how amazing his faith actually had to be. How strong his trust in God was. You know the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac, right? You probably have, but let me give you a quick recap of the history behind this story. So Abraham and his wife Sarah are pretty old at this point and they've waited a long time to have a baby and they still haven't had one. No kids. But God told them that one day He would give them a son and Abraham would be the father of many nations. Although he had to wait a long time to see this promise come to life, he had faith that God would keep His promise. Because, friends, God always keeps His promises. Finally, Abraham and Sarah have their son and they name him Isaac. Then one day, a long time after this, God asks Abraham to go to a mountain and offer Isaac, his only son, as a burnt offering. Like whaaaat?! Yeah, I would be like "Okay, God, I think I heard You wrong, can You repeat that please?" But Abraham doesn't. Actually Abraham doesn't say anything. He doesn't say a word. He doesn't ask why. He doesn't hesitate. He just goes and sets out to do what God asked him to do. If you want you can read the whole story in Genesis 22, but basically after Abraham goes to the mountain and ties up Isaac and is getting ready to sacrifice him, an angel of the Lord stops Abraham. God was only testing his faith to see how much he truly loved Him. Okay, so I don't know about you but I would've not exactly had the faith Abraham had. I mean if that was my kid, my only kid, the heir to the promise God gave me, I'm pretty sure I would've been asking God some questions. Sometimes I think we can make the mistake of looking at a story like this and thinking that Abraham was a super spiritual guy who probably knew exactly how everything was going to turn out and maybe that's why he had the faith he had. But guess what. Abraham was a man, a human. Just like you and me. In that moment when God asked him to sacrifice his son, he had no clue what was going to happen. He couldn't see the future. All he knew was that God asked him to do something and he was going to obey God by faith, no matter how risky or scary or hard it was. That's faith. And you know what else? You can have that kind of faith too. Abraham had a promise from God that he was holding onto. He knew God was good and God kept His promises. And Abraham was holding onto that in faith so that he could have the courage to obey and trust God no matter what. Friend, He's given you promises too. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what happens (Hebrews 13:5). He has promised that He has a good plan for your life that will give you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He has promised that His love will never end (Jeremiah 31:3). These promises are life changing!! Don't you see? When we believe His promises, we know that we can trust Him no matter what happens and no matter what He asks of us. Because He loves us, He has a plan for us, and He is so good to us. Don't you want that kind of faith too? That faith so strong that it gets talked about and passed on through the generations? All you have to start doing today is telling God that you trust Him. And then you must act on that trust. What's He asking you to do today that requires you to step out in faithful obedience? What is He asking you to do today that requires you to trust Him, even if it doesn't turn out how you planned? Won't you trust Him and have faith in His promises through it? Here are some more verses from Hebrews 11 that are super special: "And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (verses 32-34) These crazy amazing stories of faith you hear about through the Scriptures? God can do that in your life too. He can stop the mouths of lions in your life, quench the fire of the trial you're walking through, and make you valiant for the battle He asks you to fight. He can do all of that. All you have to do is have the faith and believe that He can. And by faith, nothing will be impossible for you.
6 Comments
Laura B.
4/19/2017 09:25:47 pm
Bella!
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Bella Morganthal
4/22/2017 12:18:09 pm
Aw, so glad to hear that, dear girl! Thank you! Love you! <3
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Grace
4/20/2017 02:42:02 pm
Great post, Bella! I especially love how you used Abraham as an example of faith!
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Bella Morganthal
4/22/2017 12:18:31 pm
Thanks so much, Grace! :)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
4/30/2017 02:30:17 pm
This was very good and encouraging, Bella! Your articles always hit home for me, thank you for them! :D
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Bella Morganthal
4/30/2017 10:29:18 pm
Aw, that means a lot! <3
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