A Twisting Providence

Has there ever been a time in which we’ve been less certain of what tomorrow will hold than today? A month ago, we didn’t know the difference between a pandemic and pancake. Today, our whole way of life has been altered. Some of you had your company tell you how stable your job was one week only to lay you off the next week. Others have medical histories that have had you quarantined for weeks already with potentially lethal ramifications if you’re infected. One week, we’re working and planning and worshipping together, and a week later everything has changed. And, remarkably, it seems as though we haven’t found the bottom yet. Some are talking about a stay-at-home order and others about the possibility that students may not go to school for the rest of 2020, even studying from home in the fall.

Uncertainty provides the testing grounds of faith. No doubt the same is true now. The question before us this day is: will we put our trust in the goodness of God, or will we try to take control ourselves? Will we trust him with what hurts so much, or will we try to make everything better by our own strength? It’s the same question, the same situation that we’re going to see in Abraham’s life this morning. There’s a plot twist in our story, and we’re going to see how God uses plot twists to reveal his story.

God’s Word

Read

The Shape of a Tested Faith (Headline)

Already, we’ve begun to see patterns revealed in God’s story. We’ve seen patterns of sin, consequences, and grace. We’ve seen the pattern of how we rebel and how God pursues us. We’ve seen how we corrupt the earth and how God renews it. We’ve seen curses followed by promises. And, it’s these patterns that help us to begin putting together how God is at work in his creation and what it means for us. And, today, what we see is the pattern of how God tests the faith of sinners. He tests our faith to verify or disprove its authenticity and to bring us into a fuller, more joyful, richly satisfying relationship with him. So, this is the pattern I want us to examine today: the shape of a tested faith (headline).

God “tests” his “servants”.

v. 1 “After these things God tested Abraham” My thesis this morning is that none of us want our faith tested but that all of us are glad after our faith is tested. We can probably see in our lives something very similar to what we find in Abraham’s life. God pursues Abraham in the pagan land of father and saves him by grace. He says that his ‘faith has been credited as righteousness’. His belief that God is worthy of all of his devotion and life has been credited to him as though he were sinless and holy and good, though he isn’t. And, you’d be tempted to think that from that point forward that Abraham would walk the straight and narrow, since God has been so good to him. But, you’d think the same thing about us, wouldn’t you? Yet, Abraham doesn’t trust God in Egypt; He tries to lie his way to safety. He does the same thing with another king names Abimelech. In chapter 15 God promises Abraham that he’s going to use his offspring to be a blessing to every nation. And, by chapter 16, he’s taken Sarah’s servant as a second wife so that he can force the son God promised on his timetable. Yet, God doubles down on his own promise that He will give them a son through barren Sarah to bless every nation, even though they are in their 90’s. And, how much faith do they have? They laugh. Until Sarah is pregnant with Isaac. Abraham’s record is anything but unblemished. But, he kept seeking the Lord and making offerings to the Lord. He would come to the Lord for deliverance, and he had witnessed firsthand, even in spite of his own unfaithfulness, the unwavering faithfulness of God. So, Abraham is a lot like us. Up and down, hot and cold, obedient and rebellious. And, he comes to chapter 22 limping and bruised by a long life lived according to the providence of God only to find himself facing a test from God that would in most ways encompass every other test.

God “tests” his “servants”. “A bruised reed he will not break” but bruised will his servants be. Some of you are walking with that bruised and tender spirit now, no doubt. But, why? Why does God test his servants? Why would a God who is good and in control allow his servants to be bruised? Why would they lose their jobs and their health and their financial security? Why can’t they have children or an easy marriage? The why’s of tests is part of what we see revealed here. Tests reveal “priorities”. They help us to identify and eliminate idols in our lives. They help wipe from our calendars and our thoughts those competing in our lives with God for our devotion and affection. You can see this in the way that God issues the test. But, God says, “Take your son, your only son Issac, whom you love” and sacrifice him. Do you see the description of Isaac that God gives to Abraham? Every descriptive phrase only serves increases the agony of the call. Abraham had already had to exile his other son, Ismael. He had waited 25 years for God to give him Isaac, the son of promise, to a barren wife in her 90’s. He had loved him and discipled him and cared for him. He’s likely nearing adolescence at this point. He’s old enough to carry a load of wood up a mountain but young enough to be called a boy. Isaac is Abraham’s assurance of God’s faithfulness. He is laughter in a dark age. He is hope for the future. He’s a reason to keep going every day. And, God says to haul him up the mountain, slit his throat, and burn his body on an altar.

Who Do You Love Most?

This is a test for idols. It’s a test to see whom is at the center of Abraham’s universe. Who does Abraham love more? God or Isaac? The giver or the gift? Who is the actual top priority, not just the stated priority? As the extra fat is melted away from our lives during this pandemic, what will it reveal about or priorities? Who or what is actually most important to us? Who or what do we actually entrust our happiness and contentment to? Is it God or job? God or health? God or family?

Tests appear “contradictory”.

v. 2b “offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Tests appear “contradictory”. Abraham must’ve wondered if it was opposite day when God came to him. Everything God said seemed to contradict, and even oppose, the very things that God had done and the promises that God had made. As Moses’ readers would’ve known, this was contradictory to the Law of God. At every turn in his word, God condemns the taking of a human life, but now he seems to be advocating it. It was contradictory to the character of God. God had promised to bless Abraham, but killing his son felt more like cursing. It was contradictory to the promises of God. God had given him a son of promise and now it was if God were taking away both the son and the promise. It wasn’t just a knife through his beloved son; it was a knife through God’s covenant with him. Nothing about this made sense. All of it seemed out of order and out of character.

Straightforward Promises and a Twisting Providence

God’s tests often appear in contradiction to God’s promises. Look at the masks at Publix, and realize that. Everything around seems the opposite of God. But, you see, more than Abraham could even realize (and us too), God is working through that very apparent contradiction to fulfill his promises. There are many promises that we feel like we can see clearly, and seeing them clearly, we feel like we know how this story should go. When you read and 15, it seems like you should know what life is going to be like for Abraham, and then God tells him to sacrifice his son. God tells you that He wants you to abide in Christ with full joy and work things for your good and bring you an abundant life, and it seems like you ought to be able to write that story, doesn’t it? You have a clear picture of what that promise ought to look like. And then, your health is taken out of your control. Your company has too much work one week and then no work at all the next. You’re telling stories with your dad and then you’re at his funeral. And, the path of God’s providence seems to be moving you away from his promises on his way to fulfilling them. We want a path as straightforward as God’s promises appear, but his is a twisting, hairpin turn providence that calls us day in and day out, year in and year out to renew our trust in him. Will you trust in the providence of God when it appears to be taking you away from the promises of God? Will you trust the goodness of God when your circumstances look anything but good? This is what Abraham’s test asks, and this is what our test is asking.

God’s “tests” clarify “belief”.

v. 3 “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.” This leads us to the next layer of a tested faith. Ultimately, God’s tests clarify “belief”. Tests clarify whether you have a living, saving faith or a dead, condemning faith. God is too gracious to leave you in the dark about what you actually believe. If you’ve never had to live by faith, how can you know if you actually have faith? How can you know whether or not you will persevere in believing in the goodness of God and the promises of God when everything around you seems to be falling apart, when you don’t even know how tomorrow will go? James uses this story as an illustration between the difference between dead faith and living faith. So, God sends us tests, not just so that we will enjoy the promises more, but to ensure that we’re actually apart of the promises to begin with. He tests the sincerity of our faith because it’s our “faith that is credited to us as righteousness.” If there’s no faith, there’s no credit of righteousness. Tests offer clarity and assurance. So, James gives us Abraham as an example of a living faith. How do we know that Abraham really has faith in God? It isn’t because he said so. It isn’t because he followed the three easy steps to Jesus. It’s because He obeyed him, even when obedience was excruciating. He laid his son bound upon the altar. James says that his ‘faith was active along with his works’ and his ‘faith was completed by his works’. That is, the evidence of a living, saving faith is obedience to God’s call. This is what it looks like to have your faith credited to you as righteousness. This is what it looks like to be saved into the Kingdom of God.

Living faith “trusts” what it “knows”.

v. 5b “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Living faith “trusts” what it “knows”. For three days, Abraham and Isaac hike into the mountains, unsure of exactly where their final destination would be. Imagine every painstaking step that Abraham took. Thinking through every scenario, every promise, every ‘might be’, and yet every time he landed on that pit in the bottom of his stomach. The reality of what was facing him. You can imagine that as he trekked through the wilderness how he would look at his son and think of how much he loved him. His son was carrying the wood that would build his own place of death. And then, they arrive. And, my goodness, look at what Abraham says. Listen to the expression of his faith. He tells his servants, “The boy and I are going over there, and we’re going to worship together. And, the boy and I are both coming home. We’re both coming back.” Woah. Abraham and Isaac walk together to the place of sacrifice. Isaac had been discipled by his father, and he knew what this looked like. There’s always a lamb. There’s a always a sacrifice to offer. And so, he asks a question that must’ve haunted Abraham. A question that he knew was coming but still didn’t want to answer. “Dad, we have the wood and the knife and the flint, but where’s the lamb?”

“faith that is credited to us as righteousness.” If there’s no faith, there’s no credit of righteousness. Tests offer clarity and assurance.

God Will Provide

How does Abraham respond? This is key to understanding living faith. Abraham did not respond with what he felt. He must’ve been in agony. Abraham did not respond with what he saw. There were no other options. Abraham responded with what he knew. “God will provide for himself the lamb.” God always provides. God will provide. He provided my righteousness. He provided my promise. He provided the deliverance of Lot. He provided my safety in Egypt. He provided my son. He will provide my son’s salvation. And so, at this point, they’re both worshiping because they’re both in submission. Isaac was young, healthy, and strong. Abraham was 100 years old. But, the young boy obeys his father and follows his lead. He’s bound up, and laid upon the altar. Every nerve blown out. Sweat dripping from his brow. Sorrow overcoming his heart. With a shaky hand, he lifts the knife into the air preparing to plunge into his beloved son’s heart, when there is a ram suddenly in view, stuck in the brush. God had provided.

Life is Never as it Appears

Living faith trusts God’s promises over life’s appearances. We trust what we know about God’s character over what we see in our circumstances. God may call us to a painful providence, an agonizing obedience. He may be calling you to move to a city or a country that you don’t even like. He may be calling you to help someone financially when you don’t have much yourself. He may be calling you to encourage your friends and family when your own life appears to be unraveling. And, the question will come down to: Will you trust God’s promises or will you trust life’s appearances? Because in the hands of a sovereign God, life is never exactly as it appears. He’s at work, moving us toward glory.

v. 1, 7, 11 “Here I am” Living faith “obeys” unconditionally. If God commanded you to sacrifice your son, would you get up early to do it? We tend to delay hard obedience, but, at this point in Abraham’s life, he wakes up early to obey the Lord. God’s test are always a call to obedience when obedience seems unreasonable. And so, maybe you’d say, “but salvation is by faith alone, not works” so how does this reconcile? As James points out, true faith, living faith is demonstrated by a life that says, “I will obey when it appears unreasonable because I trust you.” Three different times in our passage (verses 1, 7, 11) Abraham says, “Here I am.” It’s similar to what Isaiah says when God calls him to a prophetic ministry, “Here I am; send me.” It’s a response of obedience. And, think of when these responses are given. The first response leads to a hard call from God: “offer him there as a burnt offering.” The second response leads to a hard question: “where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” But, the third response leads to a glorious answer: “Do not lay your hand upon the boy.”

God “provides” our “gladness”.

v. 14 “So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide.” You see, you don’t get that glorious response if you don’t answer the call. You don’t enjoy that drink of water until you’ve come through the desert. God was who Abraham believed He was, and we know who Abraham believed He was because of Abraham’s obedience. And, you’ll know who you actually believe God is by your obedience. But, as the voice of God interrupted Abraham’s painful obedience and provided a substitute for the boy, do you think that Abraham was filled with anger or with bitterness or with gladness? Oh, what a miracle he had seen! He marks the area as a memorial to the provision of God. He names is Jehovah Jireh! Literally, it means “the Lord will provide.” He marked it as a place of celebration. The path of suffering led to a place of a celebration. And, here we see how God uses tests to increase the joy of his people. This is why we may not want to be tested, but we’re glad we’re tested. God tests his servants. And, God’s tests clarify beliefs. And, through that clarity, God “provides” our “gladness”. The twisting, painful road of providence always leads to greater gladness in God’s promises.

A Greater Suffering, A Greater Celebration

v. 18 “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”. In fact, some 2000 years before, God is here foreshadowing not only how He will provide our gladness, but how He will secure our gladness forever. There will be a greater path of suffering that will lead to a greater place of celebration. Just like that day on top of Moriah, God has to provide a sacrifice for himself so that we are not justly killed for our treason against him. As God provided the ram as a substitute for Isaac, He would provide a substitute for everyone of us by offering up ‘his son’, ‘his only son’, ‘whom He loved’ to be sacrificed without his intervention. Just as Isaac carried the wood of the altar on his back, so Jesus would carry his every own cross, the very curse of all mankind, up the mountain to Golgotha. Jesus would cry out in an echo of Isaac questioning his dad, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But, rather than relenting, God would pour out his full wrath owed to every sinner for His Son was the sacrifice He would provide to satisfy his wrath that the world might be redeemed. He would not withhold his very own Son. But, his Son would return to him, and through him, ‘all the nations of the earth (are being) blessed.’ This has been God’s plan from the beginning, and it’s being revealed one plot twist after another. It’s a painful providence moving toward a greater gladness. May God test us and increase our gladness. Our gladness is secure.

Questions

What are some of the ways that God tests us? What have your experiences been?

How do God’s tests reveal our priorities? Why is it loving for God to test us in this way?

How might this pandemic be an example of how God’s tests appear contradictory? Have you seen evidence of how God might use this for good?

Read . What is the difference between a living faith and a dead faith? What is the relationship between our salvation, our faith, and our works?

What does it look like to trust God’s promises over life’s appearances in your life right now?