Have you ever wondered why God allows certain things in your own life. I remember a time, early in my first church as a pastor, where a young couple had come to me for marriage counseling. I was in my first month of ministry and was feeling pretty inadequate in my abilities to help them but nonetheless I agreed to meet. The couple had previously decided to separate but were wanting to resolve the issues in their marriage. I learned they had only become Christians a month earlier and were dealing with some communication issues in their marriage. After spending some time listening and offering some advice the couple worked out their problems and decided to end the separation. There were joyful tears, hugs, and forgiveness all around. I was also rejoicing in the Lord for my small role in bringing this couple back together. I remember sitting in my office thinking, “Yes! This is how things are supposed to work!” The couple left my office hand in hand with their two year old son ready to build on their marriage.
Later that night while the husband and son were just five houses down the street at his father’s home, his beloved wife was attacked by burglars and murdered violently. I found myself standing in the yard of his home, with police cars, emergency vehicles, and flashing lights all around me. This young husband runs up to me and collapses in my arms screaming, “Why...why Pastor? We just got back together!...why did God let this happen?!” With tears in my eyes I could only say, “I don’t know...I just don’t know.” We don’t always understand why things happen in our lives, but every time things go wrong our faith is tested. This young man’s faith was on the line that night...my faith was on the line that night.
Returning to our text James refers to a specific time in Abraham’s life where his faith was test by God. Abraham could not just acknowledge a belief in God he would be forced to demonstrate his faith by his actions. God had promised Abraham a son with Sarah and they finally had a child when Abraham was a hundred years old (Genesis 21:1-5). Then in Genesis, chapter 22, God asked Abraham to do something unthinkable...something that didn’t make any sense to him. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Can you imagine what was going through Abraham’s mind upon hearing such a request? He waits many, many years for God to finally deliver on His promise, to give him a son, and then asks Abraham to kill his son and burn him on an altar as a sacrifice back to God.
There are times when God just doesn’t make any sense. I am sure Abraham was thinking the same thing as he led his only son, Isaac, toward the place he would kill him and offer him as a sacrifice. What Abraham did not know was God was testing him...testing his faith. Remember our study here in the book of James is about building our faith. Abraham may have been confused, may not have understood why, but the most important thing was Abraham believed and trusted God.
He took his son to the place God told him, built an altar, placed his son upon it, and taking his knife he raised it to sacrifice his son. Before he could complete the task an angel of the Lord called out to him and stopped him. God said to Abraham,
“Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). As Abraham looked up he saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes and sacrificed the animal as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Have you experienced times where you did not understand what God was doing or why? How did you respond to it? I think we all wish we could responded the same way Abraham did but I admit there were times when I did not. There have been valleys in my life where my prayer time, my time in God’s word, and my relationship with God have been strained due to difficult times...times when I questioned what God was doing, but unlike Abraham I did not continue on while I dealt with the confusion. Instead I stopped and allowed a breakdown in my relationship with God. I am thankful God never gives up on me.
God tested Abraham’s faith. When James said that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” he was quoting Genesis 15:6 where God had made him a promise of one day having a son. This belief in God, as I have said previously, was not a head knowledge belief but a deep, intimate, relational belief that trusted God at His word. The whole point of James’ teaching is how a head knowledge of God does not produce good works, but a heart belief brings true faith and a relationship with God that reveals itself through good deeds. Abraham’s belief and intimate relationship with God enabled him to carry out God’s request. This is why Abraham is the only man in the Old Testament to be called God’s friend (2 Chronicles 15:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23).
How about you? Do you believe God? Would you describe your relationship with God as deep, personal, and intimate? Would you call your relationship with God closer than your relationship with your wife or best friend? God told Abraham, “you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” ...the one thing on the entire earth Abraham cherished most. Can God say the same thing about you? Is there something in your life you are holding onto...something you can’t trust God with? Maybe it is your children...maybe its your finances… we all tend to hold on to things. We all have something we need to give over to God. What is yours?
Read James 2:24 again, “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (after salvation). God tested Abraham’s faith and God will test your faith. How you handle the test will reveal the maturity level of your faith, and the level of intimacy of your relationship with God...but be careful. Just as James recognized there were people in his church who were going through the motions of church and religion without being truly saved. If you are not seeing your faith in action you must ask yourself the hard question. Am I saved? If you are unsure I would ask that you put this book down right now and confess this to God. Ask Him to save you now...ask Him to make it real this time. Tell him you want the deep and personal relationship Abraham had. Isn’t this what God wanted in the first place?
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