STEPS OF FAITH TRAIL

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. —Proverbs 23:18

By the time Abraham got to the end where the dirt road of hope turned into the paved road of fulfilled promise, he didn’t look quite as good as he looked some twenty-five years earlier. There were scars of failure and lines of confusion etched in his face. If you do not believe that just listen and you will hear Ishmael somewhere in the background. The truth is, Abraham in blazing the “Steps Of Faith Trail,” had a few missteps along the way. By the time he was a hundred he had placed his hope in Ishmael: “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee” (Genesis 17:18)! By the time that it was over he knew that God was faithful to his Word: In Isaac shall thy seed be!

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. —Hebrews 6:15

Faith is not only what you believe, it is the trials and tests and successes and failures you endure along the way! Faith is never greater than when it believes in the face of failure. Faith that believes and comes forth out of the tomb of death is the faith that pleases God. This is because faith of this kind has indentified the source of all true faith which is God and God alone! At 85 Abraham still had confidence in his ability; at 100 all confidence in self was gone. Ishmael was something he could do; Isaac was something only God could do.

To understand this better you have to see that it is all about a seed: “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). Seed is never planted when it is “green” and full of moisture. It must go through death and dryness before planted or else it will not germinate. In other words, the corn on the cob that you eat and is all juicy is not the seed you plant. The seed that you plant is that which was alive, but is now dead and dry.

Abraham was fully alive in his body when he first received the promise of a son. When Sarah suggested that he have a son by Hagar Abraham never once questioned his ability to make it happen! He was very much alive! You can look all day and at this time you will not find him asking the Lord, “How can this be?” He knew what to do and knew that he could do it!!

Abraham was fully dead in his body when he received the fulfillment of the promised son. This was God’s plan all along: When Abraham no longer could, God would. It was never meant to come to pass because of Abraham’s strength and vitality; it was to be solely based on God who raises the dead! The miracle hinged not on Abraham’s timing but God’s.