A Father Who Trusted God

"And Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' So the two of them walked on together" (Genesis 22:8)

Sunday is Father's Day, beloved, a day in which we honor all the dads who deserve recognition for standing strong in raising their kids to be all that they ought to be. But what is a real father? Magazine articles in doctors' offices will tell you all kinds of things that dads ought to be. Can we trust such man-made "tests" for determining what a real dad should be?

Abraham stands as a wonderful example for us of what a godly father will be in any generation, beloved. If you've ever read this passage of Scripture through, you know that what God asked of him was that he sacrifice his son, Isaac, unto the Lord in faith. With wondering eyes and amazed hearts we read of how Abraham made ready for the journey to Mt. Moriah, how in obedience he took his beloved son, Isaac, to that place of sacrifice and tied him there upon the altar he had built. We read further how at the last moment God stopped his hand and provided instead a ram caught in the thicket by his horns.

So what made Abraham the father that he was? What was the secret of his utter trust in God? We find the answers to our questions in the New Testament account of Abraham as part of God's honor-roll of faith:

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, 'In Isaac your descendants shall be called.' He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type" (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Note here first of all that Abraham trusted in God's plan. He did not insist upon having all his questions answered before he would obey God. He had learned that at times God's ways are beyond human understanding. It was enough for him to know that God knows what He is doing and that His way is always best.

But note also that Abraham trusted in God's promises. He recalled that God had promised him in Haran that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). So Abraham chose to take God completely at His word! He knew that only through Isaac could God keep His word to Abraham. If God chose to have him sacrifice his son, then God would have to give him back to him so that God's own promise could be fulfilled.

Finally, note that Abraham trusted in God's power. Abraham had told his young servants who traveled with him to Moriah that both he and Isaac would worship on the mountain and would return to them (Genesis 22:5). He did not necessarily believe that Isaac would not die on the mountain, but rather that the power of God would restore him to his father so that the divine promise could be kept!

But why did God ask Abraham to make such a sacrifice in the first place, beloved? Could it be that what God asked Abraham to do on Mt. Moriah He Himself would later actually do on Mt. Golgotha? Could it be that in giving Isaac, Abraham's son that he loved, back to him God was foreshadowing the giving of His only begotten Son on Calvary's tree as well as His resurrection from the tomb? How can we read of Abraham's godly example and not think of those well-beloved words?

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16)

As dads today we need so much to set an example, not only for our children, but for our entire families and for all those who know us, of utter trust in God's plan, promises, and power. We need to lead the way in walking our families down the road of personal righteousness as we live by faith in Jesus Christ and seek in all that we do to glorify God. Now that is what a dad really is!

Happy Father's Day!

Ron