SheBrews: By Faith

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1

Friends, this is going to be a difficult post. It addresses a question I really wrestled with when I was in counseling for my sexual assault. I was asking my counselor what the reason could be for God allowing this awful thing to happen to me. I wanted to see right then how God could use it. What lesson could I learn. What could I share with others. How this could be turned into something good. But the answer he gave me was something very unexpected. He simply asked, “If your worst-case scenario were to happen and the only thing that happened through it was somehow God received glory, would that be worth it to you?”

That question is like a punch to the gut. Because we come face to face with whether or not we are going to live out the other half of Christ’s example that we discussed last week. For the past week we’ve been dwelling on the question, “Do I want to find the grace woven throughout my pain more than I want to escape the pain?” This week we’re going to ask the most important question: “Is giving God glory more important to me than my own comfort?” Is submitting to His will, with sometimes unknown reasons, more important to me than my own comfort?

Please do not mistake my question here. God is not sitting up in heaven scheming over what horrible things He can will for you to walk through. That is absolutely not the case and would not match up with what we know about His character. However, we live in a sin-torn and broken world. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought pain into our existence. And the reality is that this means we will face worst-case scenarios. It’s simply a fact of life. And God, in His infinite wisdom, allows these things into our lives (and I’m fully convinced also protects us from pain we’re completely unaware of the possibility of having to walk through). So, if this is a reality of life—if God, in His wisdom, allows pain in our lives—how do we walk through it?

Well, according to Hebrews, the answer is: by faith.

Hebrews 11 is probably one of the most well-known passages addressing the subject of faith. It is often referred to as the Hall of Faith. And I want to focus today on one of the individuals listed in this hall: Abraham.

“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, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” – Hebrews 11:17-19

I’ve heard individuals discounting the power of Abraham’s testimony when discussing this story found in Genesis 22. They say that Abraham had faith, but that it was a faith he had all along that he wouldn’t need to sacrifice Isaac. And the evidence they use for this is when Abraham tells his servants, “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5) But that’s simply not what the Bible says about his faith. A few verses later we read,

“Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’” (22:10-12)

The use of the word “but” indicates that Abraham would have followed through on killing Isaac had the angel of the LORD not intervened. Further evidence is seen in Abraham’s heart attitude. We know God can read the hearts of men (Jeremiah 17:10; Romans 8:27; Psalm 139:23). So, if Abraham had truly gone into this not planning on killing his son because he thought God wouldn’t really ask him to in the end, we wouldn’t see the statement, “for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” God would have known Abraham’s true intentions. We see his true intention was to sacrifice his son as asked.

The question, then, would be why Abraham would have told his servants to expect both him and Isaac to come back. If he planned on sacrificing his son, why would he say this?

Hebrews 11 pieces this together for us. He had faith. It wasn’t faith that he would get to avoid doing what God had asked him to, but rather that God would work it all out. It was a faith that God would keep His promise to Abraham even in the midst of his own worst-case scenario, the death of his only son Isaac. The death of the son through which God had promised to bring about an offspring greater in number than the stars in the sky.

Let’s read that portion of Hebrews 11 again.

“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, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” – Hebrews 11:17-19

You may be thinking, “Oh, well that’s all well and good, Katie. But what promise do I have to fall back on and hold onto in faith while I’m facing my worst-case scenario?”

First, it’s that God hears your prayers (1 Peter 3:12), even if He’s not giving you the answer you’re praying for. One of my favorite verses in the book of Hebrews is found in chapter 5.

“In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.” – Hebrews 5:7

We read one of Jesus’s prayers last week in Matthew 26.

“And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” – Matthew 26:39

It’s been implied to me a few times in the last four and a half years that I haven’t received healing or answers to my health because I have not prayed about it enough. These implications were always made by well-meaning friends. The warning to make sure you are in prayer is needed. We’re exhorted multiple times throughout scripture to be constantly in prayer—in constant communication with God. However, it’s important to remember that we’re never guaranteed that we’ll be given everything we ask Him for. So let me comfort you with this assurance. If you have been praying and asking to be rescued from your worst-case scenario, but God hasn’t answered in the way you’ve hoped for, it isn’t because you aren’t being heard.

Jesus asked the Father in the garden of Gethsemane if it would be possible to avoid suffering death on the cross. We obviously know that the answer to that was “no”. He suffered and died for us. But Hebrews tells us that His prayer was heard, even if He wasn’t spared the suffering.

Second, God promises that He will walk with you through your worst-case scenario. Hebrews 13:5-6 says,

“…for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So, we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

He will not leave you alone in your pain. And, according to 2 Corinthians 12:9, He will strengthen us in the midst of the pain.

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’”

His power is made perfect in our weakness. He will help you as you walk through your worst-case scenario.

Third, He promises to somehow use your pain for good.

Romans 8:28 is probably one of the most well-known verses in the Bible.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

And, while I love this verse, I think the verse that follows is the most encouraging. Because, while I’m sure there is good that He is working out that we cannot see happening and may never know about it, there is also good that He tells us about. He uses all things in our lives, both good and bad, to mold us into being more Christ-like.

“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29)

He’s making us more like Christ. How beautiful a promise is that for sinners like you and me?

Finally, He promises that this suffering isn’t the end. In Romans 8:18, Paul—a man who endured incredible suffering throughout his life—makes a bold statement.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Our worst-case scenarios cannot be compared to the glory that is coming.

At the end of the Hall of Faith we are told that we and the individuals mentioned in that chapter will all experience this coming glory together. (Hebrews 11:39-40) And 1 Corinthians tells us that we can’t even imagine what this will be like.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

If your worst-case scenario were to happen and the only thing that happened through it was somehow God received glory, would that be worth it to you?

Friends, it’s important to ask ourselves if we love our God enough that we could answer this question with a “yes”. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states this well when it says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” This is based off Ecclesiastes 12:13.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

And while I pray that we will all grow to the point where we can answer, “Yes”, how incredible and gracious is it that our loving God offers us more? Yes, He will be glorified, but He also gives us the promises we’ve discussed. He will hear us. He will never leave us to walk alone. He will strengthen us. He will make us more like Christ.

And He will one day bring us all home to live with Him eternally.

Until then, we live by faith.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1