Fearing God (5) 

But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Genesis 22.11, 12

How does God know?
How does God know that we fear Him?

God commands us to fear Him. He knows that when we fear Him, we will delight in His Law and hate all manner of evil. They who live thus before the Lord are positioning themselves for acts of courageous obedience which only true faith can engender.

When we live by courageous faith, obeying God even when what He requires of us seems unlikely, fearful, unreasonable, or beyond anything we’ve ever experienced, then we prove to Him that we love and fear Him as we ought.

This is what God saw in Abraham, and this is what He is looking for in us. God knows we fear Him when we are courageous in obeying Him, regardless of how outrageous what He requires may seem.

Abraham’s task
Abraham’s was neither a pleasant nor, from a human perspective, reasonable task. He loved his only son, Isaac. The thought of sacrificing him on an altar on the top of the mountain must have sent horror and disgust into his very bones.

Moreover, this was the child of promise, the one through whom God declared He would make of Abraham a great nation. How could it be reasonable to sacrifice this child? Yet this is what God commanded Abraham to do.

In our lives, we are often confronted with prompts, suggestions, instruction, and coaxing from the Lord to do things that appear to us as neither pleasant nor reasonable. Tell the Good News of Jesus to that angry colleague at work. Forgive this one who has so egregiously sinned against you. Bite your tongue and smile instead when someone has slighted you. Confront a sinning believer with the wickedness of His ways. Heed the call to serve the poor and needy, or to take up some other unfamiliar work of ministry. Stop robbing the Lord by withholding the tithe from Him. Confess that sinful attitude you have been harboring against your spouse. And so on.

Obeying such prompts can seem difficult. It might lead to unhappy consequences, or upset our comfort.

None of these even begins to approach what Abraham was called to do, but they may all seem as unpleasant and unreasonable to us as that task which he took up in courageous faith.

Simple obedience
But when we love the Lord we will want to know His pleasure by doing whatever He requires of us. And when we fear the Lord – more than we fear the consequences of our obedience – we will do what He bids, even when what He bids is not what we would choose. We might fear the consequences of acting in courageous faith, but we fear more than that incurring the displeasure of the Lord.

How can we muster the kind of courageous faith that shows the Lord that we love and fear Him as He requires?

First, we must be certain about what the Lord is calling us to do. Don’t act impulsively. Listen in prayer and wait upon the Lord to restate and reinforce His directive, as the Spirit prompts and leads you, day by day. Make sure that you’ve heard the Lord correctly, and that the path on which He would send you is clearly illuminated by His Word.

Second, envision yourself performing the thing you dread, and make preparation to carry out your obedience in faith. Abraham knew what a sacrifice required – fire, wood, a sharp knife – and he made sure to bring these with him to the mountain. Whatever God is calling us to do, we must see ourselves acting in obedience, what we will be doing as we carry out His directive; and we must make whatever preparations of prayer, setting up a meeting, writing down what we want to say, or whatever else may be involved, so that when the moment for obedience presents itself, we will be ready.

But, finally we must trust in the Lord to do what His good and perfect will in this situation. God is good; He does all things well; He works all things together for good to those who love Him and are following His purposes; and He never fails nor forsakes us. If we have waited on Him faithfully, envisioned ourselves acting, and made the necessary preparations, then, at the earliest moment or opportunity, we must take by faith the steps our obedience requires.

This will require courage, it’s true, perhaps even beyond what you’ve ever had to show before. But take the necessary steps, and God will meet your courage with His presence, promises, and power. For when He sees that we fear Him, then He acts according to our faith and His promises.

They who act in such courageous faith show the Lord that they fear Him. And He will surely grant them to know His pleasure.

For reflection
1.  Give some examples of what would be for you courageous acts of faith. When confronted with any of these, whether in your thoughts or on your daily path, how do you typically respond?

2.  What God calls us to do may sometimes seem unpleasant or unreasonable. But such things may actually be the path to the pleasure of the Lord, and make perfect sense in retrospect. Explain.

3.  Review the examples you gave in question 1. How should you prepare for each one of these, so that, when you have to confront them, you will be ready with courageous faith, and thus demonstrate that you both fear and love the Lord?

Next steps – Conversation: How do your Christian friends prepare for courageous acts of faith? Ask a few of them.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.