Three Days of No Hope

 

Romans 4:16-17 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

 

"Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath." ~Streams in the Desert

 

It is one thing to step out in faith.

It is another thing altogether to continue to walk by faith when you do not see an immediate answer.

Abraham obeyed God by setting out with his son and his servants to follow the Lord's command to sacrifice his son.  He did well, although I'm sure his heart broke when God spoke this command to him.  Each step must have been heavy with dread and grief.

However, did you realize that they traveled for THREE DAYS before they reached the mountain where the sacrifice was to take place?!!

• Three days to contemplate killing his only son
• Three days to reminisce about his miracle child's birth
• Three days of close communion with his treasured boy
• Three days for the fear to grow
• Three days for the doubts to rise
• Three days to wonder if he'd understood God's instructions
• Three days to dread his return home without his son
• Three days to wait in vain for God's intervention

 

Yes, Abraham did well to head toward the mountain to sacrifice his boy, but he did an even greater task to continue the journey when there was no sign of miraculous intervention during the three days' journey to the place of sacrifice.

 

A life of faith is not a life of continual miracles. 

Rather, it is a life of obedience:  doing each small task as the Lord would lead us; putting one foot in front of the other as we follow His commands, however incredible those instructions may seem to us.

Think about Abraham and Isaac's story:

Can you imagine the journey of Abraham and Isaac on the way home???

• Three days to praise their God for His deliverance of Isaac
• Three days to remember hearing the very Voice of God speak to them
• Three days to tell the servants about finding the ram in the thicket
• Three days to decide how to tell Sarah the story of their experience
• Three days to quietly wonder how God would keep His promise to Abraham
• Three days to rejoice about coming home together – father and son

 

Did you step out in faith to obey God's voice in some matter?

Are you still walking in faith and wondering when your miracle is going to occur?

I encourage you to hold on for just a while longer!  Keep moving forward in obedience.  God will not desert you.  He is waiting until just the right moment to send your miracle.

 

"There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him." ~ F.B. Meyer