{"id":3978,"date":"2024-08-08T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T12:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/?p=3978"},"modified":"2025-07-29T16:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T20:50:29","slug":"their-finest-hour-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/voices\/their-finest-hour-abraham\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Faith When God Doesn\u2019t Make Sense\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No servant of God in the Bible had more to complain about than Abraham. He was promised the land of Canaan for an inheritance, but when he went out he \u201cdid not know where he was going\u201d (Heb. 11:8<\/a>). Not only that, when Abraham came into the promised land God \u201cdidn\u2019t give him an inheritance in it\u2014not even a foot of ground\u201d (Acts 7:5<\/a>). Figure that out! John Calvin observed that Abraham must surely have felt deceived or betrayed. In a word: Abraham, more than any character in Holy Scripture, must head the list of those who felt that God made no sense!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet more difficulties followed. When Abraham was about eighty-five and his wife Sarah was seventy-five, God promised him a son from his own body. Since Sarah was now barren, this surely made no sense! But Abraham believed God\u2019s promise and his faith was counted for righteousness (Gen. 15:6<\/a>), this being Paul\u2019s chief illustration for the teaching of justification by faith alone.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is still more to tell! When Sarah didn\u2019t get pregnant, she persuaded Abraham to make good God\u2019s promise by sleeping with her servant Hagar (Gen. 16<\/a>). Abraham, therefore, assumed that when Hagar conceived and had the male child Ishmael, this must have been what God had in mind all along. Wrong! God revealed to Abraham and Sarah that she would conceive after all\u2014that Isaac was coming and that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the child of promise. Can you blame Abraham for being confused?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Promise and the Oath <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had a vivid supernatural experience on October 31, 1955. What I saw was more real to me than anything I ever saw with my physical eyes or heard with my physical ears. I was driving on old U.S. 41 in Tennessee between Monteagle and Nashville. Suddenly, Jesus appeared before me, praying for me. I felt overwhelmed. I was fascinated that he was positioned at the right hand of the Father. I could not tell what Jesus was saying, but never in my lifetime\u2014before or since\u2014had I felt so loved. I wept and watched. I do not know how I drove for the next eighty miles.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over an hour later, as I passed through Smyrna, I distinctly heard Jesus say to the Father, \u201cHe wants it.\u201d I heard the Father reply, \u201cHe can have it.\u201d At that precise moment I felt a warmth in my chest and a peace and joy in my heart that surpassed anything I have ever\u2014ever\u2014 felt. I saw the physical face of Jesus for about a minute. Then it diminished. I had no idea at that time what had happened to me. It all made no sense.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I do know is that my theology underwent a major surgery\u2014I would call it a personal paradigm shift. By sundown that very day, I had learned two indisputable things from this experience: (1) I was eternally and unconditionally saved (which went completely against everything I had been taught); and (2) I was sovereignly chosen (which I had known nothing about). For days I wondered (I am almost ashamed to say) if I was the only person to have this kind of experience. Had I come to believe something new?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My memory and details of that experience are as real today as if it had happened yesterday. This vision is more real than the Nashville skyline Louise and I see from our condo every day. Ironically, we now live on U.S. 41 in Nashville, overlooking Nissan Stadium, where the Titans play. But it took a long time\u2014years\u2014 before I could say what Jesus\u2019s words \u201cHe wants it . . . he can have it\u201d meant. I now know that \u201cit\u201d is the oath as described in Hebrews 6:16\u201317<\/a>, where the writer says that the \u201coath ends every dispute.\u201d Hebrews 6:18 also refers to \u201ctwo unchangeable things,\u201d i.e., the promise and the oath. Finally, the author calls \u201cit\u201d the \u201crest\u201d in Hebrews 4:1<\/a> and 4:10<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201coath\u201d is called by other names in the Bible: \u201cthe rest,\u201d \u201cinheritance,\u201d and \u201cfull assurance.\u201d The Westminster Confession also refers to \u201cinfallible assurance\u201d not belonging to the \u201cessence of faith.\u201d I take this to mean that you can be a good Christian without experiencing unbroken assurance. This type of assurance comes pretty close\u2014I think\u2014as a fulfilling reward to those who don\u2019t give up even during a season in which God seems to make no sense. It is a reward worth waiting for.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abraham\u2019s Finest Hour <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get back to Abraham and his greatest challenge.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Gen. 22:2<\/a>)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find it impossible to put myself in Abraham\u2019s shoes in this moment. How did Abraham\u2019s trust in God\u2014what did he see or feel?\u2014give him the willingness to sacrifice Isaac? Abraham\u2019s actions recorded for us in Scripture have been questioned and commented on for ages. We only know that he did what God told him to do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risking everything that was promised to him, Abraham could not have known what would follow. Nobody was there to witness his actions\u2014God alone was his witness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Abraham obeyed. And that was his finest hour.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What followed Abraham\u2019s finest hour was a big deal. The writer of Hebrews wants us to know just how big a deal it was for God to swear an oath to Abraham. Whereas one swears an oath by something \u201cgreater\u201d\u2014whether it be by the Holy Bible or something that seems sacred (one may say, \u201cI swear by my mother\u2019s grave\u201d)\u2014God could not find anything greater. Therefore, he swore \u201cby himself\u201d (Heb. 6:13<\/a>):  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command. (Gen. 22:17\u201318<\/a>)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter to the Hebrews refers to Abraham having experienced God\u2019s oath. The oath came to him after he became utterly willing\u2014indeed, he was in the process of sacrificing Isaac as a burnt offering. Receiving God\u2019s oath was Abraham\u2019s reward for his obedience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s Promises Are Worth Trusting <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The moment when God swore an oath to Abraham was ten thousand times more powerful to Abraham than my experience on U.S. 41 was to myself. Furthermore, Abraham was over one hundred years old, but I was only nineteen\u2014which I find embarrassing to say (if I am totally honest). Why did God give me this vision? I honestly do not know. But I do know one thing for sure: I had done nothing before, nor have I done anything ever since to deserve this blessing. At the same time, the experience of God swearing an oath is promised to ALL believers, and this blessing has happened to millions all over the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abraham would never ever doubt God\u2019s promise again. Had he doubted God\u2019s word before the oath came? Possibly. From Genesis 12 through Genesis 21, God spoke at different times to Abraham\u2014again and again. But he only spoke by promise\u2014promise after promise. Finally, for the first time in Abraham\u2019s life, God swore an oath to him. What does this mean? Answer: the oath ends all dispute. An oath is more convincing than a promise. Whereas both a promise from God and an oath from God are equally true, the oath removes all doubt. After God swore an oath to Abraham, you could say that he was \u201cset.\u201d Never again would Abraham need more convincing\u2014the oath did it. Nothing, indeed, tops experience over argument. It is like seeing the Swiss Alps rather than viewing pictures of them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times will come in your life when God doesn\u2019t make sense. You probably already have had some of those experiences. But I want to encourage you that in those times you can believe God even more. Let Abraham be our guide into believing that God\u2019s promises are worth trusting even in the midst of confusing times.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adapted from Their Finest Hour: 30 Biblical Figures Who Pleased God at Great Cost<\/em><\/a> by R.T. Kendall, foreword By: O.S. Hawkins.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In today’s world, it’s easy to fall prey to the approval addiction\u2014seeking the praise of others instead of focusing on pleasing God. In Their Finest Hour<\/em>, best-selling author R.T. Kendall highlights 30 Bible characters who put their trust in God despite their moments of self-effacing vulnerability. Through these stories, we can learn valuable lessons about faith and trusting God even when it isn’t popular or easy to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll learn the importance of sticking to your convictions, letting God be in control, and trusting His plan for your life through stories of biblical figures, including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n