40 Days of Faith: Day 17

Hebrews 11:17 – By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son…

I wasn’t much of a test taker, especially when doing proofs in geometry. Maybe it was the cute girls in my class, the fact that Mrs. Santire had an accent from New York, or simply because I was better at words than numbers. By God’s grace, and the help of Larry Miller, I passed my math classes in high school.

Larry Miller lived across the street from us. He and Sally raised Lisa and Stephen. Larry worked for Cameron Iron Works as a blue-collar worker in their factory. He had an old 1950’s era Ford Thurderbird in his front drive that needed restoration.

I remember that Larry would leave the house before sunup but always get home at 4pm each day. He was always tinkering with something in the garage, and he was always looking out for us kids in the late afternoons as we would come home and play after school.
What most people didn’t know about Larry, but I quickly came to understand, is that Larry was a math genius. He was a patient teacher and truly cared that I got the concepts down. I can say that I was never his prodigy, but I survived the testing that high school math created in my life.

How do you handle testing? Do you believe that God has the right to test you? Do you agree that his testing of you actually proves your faith in Him?

Abraham walked with God. He was promised by God that through his offspring, and in particularly, the line of Isaac, that he would become a great nation and his descendants would outnumber the stars.

When God later called him to sacrifice Isaac, I’m sure his head was spinning. But Abraham endured the test. As a matter of fact, Barry Magnum states:
The near sacrifice of Isaac is recorded in Genesis 22. God blesses Abraham because he was willing to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:16–18). James also identifies this event as a demonstration of Abraham’s faith in God (James 2:21–24).[1]

When we endure testing, we are demonstrating our faith in Christ. James says it this way in James 2:21-24:
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

True faith will express itself through works that simply prove our faith. Look at the words of D.G. Peterson:
In a world where people dismiss faith as ‘wishful thinking’ or simply identify it with the beliefs and practices of a particular religion (e.g. ‘the Muslim faith’), it is good to have a comprehensive picture of the faith that actually pleases God. Hebrews shows the link between faith, hope, obedience and endurance, illustrating that it is more than intellectual assent to certain beliefs. God-honoring faith takes God at his word and lives expectantly and obediently in the present, waiting for him to fulfil his promises. Such faith brings suffering and persecution in various forms.[2]

 Has your faith been tested? Have you endured that testing? Testing isn’t meant to destroy our faith—it’s meant to prove it. Abraham’s willingness to place Isaac on the altar revealed that he trusted God’s promises more than his own understanding. In the same way, the tests we face become opportunities to demonstrate that our faith is alive and active. The world calls faith “wishful thinking,” but God calls it obedience that endures under pressure. When trials come, we can either shrink back or step forward, trusting that God is faithful even when we don’t understand. Today, let’s choose to endure testing with confidence, believing that our works of obedience will show the world—and ourselves—that our faith is real.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving me enough to test my faith. I confess that I often resist trials, yet I know they are opportunities to grow and to prove that my trust is in You. Strengthen me to endure when life feels overwhelming. Help me to obey even when I don’t have every answer, and to believe that You are always faithful to Your promises. May my life, like Abraham’s, show that my faith is more than words—it is trust in action. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

  [1] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Heb 11:17). Lexham Press.
[2] Peterson, D. G. (1994). Hebrews. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 1345). Inter-Varsity Press.