Abraham: Man Of Faith Series

INTRODUCTION

A famed tightrope walker came to Niagara Falls and stretched his rope across the thunderous currents from Canada to the United States. Before the breathless multitudes, he walked, then ran, across the falls. He did the same blindfolded, with drums rolling. Then, still blindfolded, he pushed a wheelbarrow across the falls.

The crowd went wild, and the aerialist shouted to them, “Who believes I can push a man in this wheelbarrow across these falls?”

A gentleman in the front waved his hands, shouting, “I do! I believe!”

“Then,” said the walker, “come and get in the wheelbarrow.”

To no surprise, the man's intellectual ascent failed to translate into personal belief.

BACKGROUND

How strong is your faith in God? More than that, is your faith just words of intellectual assent, or is it clearly evident in your life to those around you?

As we continue our series today on Unlikely Heroes, we will be examining the life of a man who, to many, may not have seemed to be a likely candidate for the title “hero.” His background makes him so implausible to have hero status. His name is Abraham.

Why is he such an “unlikely” hero? Consider that his family was not originally followers of God, but idolators (Joshua 24:2) who lived in Mesopotamia. It is unclear as to whether Abram was an idolator also or whether he was worshiping Jehovah at that time. It is possible that they all worshiped Jehovah as “High God” and also practiced henotheism, defined as the worship of a particular god by a family or tribe, which may have been represented by idols.

Abraham received two calls from God. The first call, while he was in Ur, was to leave his country and his family. But notice that his family went with him, led by his father, Terah, not by Abraham. While he did leave his country, he didn’t immediately leave his family. The second call was received after his father and the whole family had moved out to Haran. This call, made after his father died, was to go to the land of Canaan.

As we examine his life, we discover that his journey from zero to hero was a long one, yet his life became one of the most important in the history of Judaism and Christianity. We will also discover that the attribute that took him to hero status was: FAITH! For our text, we will turn to the New Testament passage found in Hebrews 11:8-10, but we will explore his life in the Old Testament book of Genesis.

I. He Trusted God for Guidance (11:9)

The author of Hebrews informs us that Abraham did not know where he was going.

Can you imagine heading out on a trip only because someone told you to go, and yet you have no idea where you are going? Today we have GPS apps that aid us in making our trips, but of what use are they if we don’t know where we are going? We would be called fools to embark upon such a journey!

Now imagine what Abraham must have endured! His friends and family must have asked what he was doing when they saw him packing up. Maybe he suffered from their derision and cruel jokes. Maybe his own immediate family thought him crazy. But he trusted this unseen God.

This was his first call. God said go, and Abraham obeyed. Abraham's faith was so great, that he was not particularly concerned as to where he was going. His faith displaced all worry as to where he was going. He did not trouble to think upon the matter.

This could not have been an easy experience for Abraham. His whole life, his family, his livelihood, his friends were all there in his homeland. Yet he trusted his God sufficiently to immediately obey. The words here should be literally translated, “By faith Abraham, while he was being called, obeyed.” It indicates that Abraham’s immediate response to the call of God was obedience.

This is the expectation of God for all of His children. Such blind trust is sometimes required. Our only response to God’s direction should be to trust and obey. It is never easy just to trust because we think we must have all of the information in front of us in order to trust. But that is not trust. That is walking by sight, not faith.

Bob Utley said it best when he commented, “God is not looking for ‘super-saints,’ but for flawed humans who will respond to Him in repentance and faith and live for Him regardless of the circumstances.”

Are you trusting God for guidance in your life? Do you believe that God will lead you where you need to be for His honor and glory? Are you living for Him where He has led you, and are you trusting His continued guidance in your life?