The Illustration Of Hope

Having patiently waited, [Abraham] obtained the promise.
–Hebrews 6:15

In Hebrews 6:13-15, the writer gave us a great illustration of hope. He pointed to Abraham, one the best illustrations of hope in Scripture: “When God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.”

When you think about it, Abraham’s whole life was one of faith and patience. When he was 75 years old, God said to him, “Abraham, I want you to pick up your family and go to a foreign country that I will reveal to you later.” And Abraham did exactly what God told him to do. Then God took Abraham outside and said, “Look at the stars in the sky. So shall your descendants be.” Abraham was 75, and his wife Sarah was 65 at the time. He was not the father of anybody, much less of a great nation, but he kept on believing God. In fact, Abraham waited for 25 years until God finally fulfilled that promise and gave them Isaac.

But the writer of Hebrews was referring to the ultimate demonstration of Abraham’s faith and patience–an incident in Abraham’s life that occurred long after his 100th birthday. In Genesis 22, God gave Abraham the greatest test of all. He said, “I want you to take the son whom you love, Isaac, and I want you to offer him as a sacrifice.” The next morning, Abraham got up early, and he and Isaac started heading toward Mount Moriah, the mount of sacrifice. I want you to stop for a moment and ask yourself: What if God asked you to do that? What would your response be? Or what if God were to say to you, “I want you to sell everything you have and give it to your church.” How would you respond? What if God said to you, “I want you to go in to work and resign”? Would you be willing to give up that job you love that provides for your family? What if, for those of you who are single and in a relationship, maybe even engaged, God said, “I want you to break off that relationship”? How would you respond? What if God asked you to give up that which you love the most? That is what was going on in Abraham’s life.

You know the rest of the story. Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah and placed him on the altar. Abraham was about to plunge the knife in the heart of his beloved son when God said, “Stop! Because you love me, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” That was the faith of Abraham. Abraham was so sure that God was going to fulfill the promise through Isaac that he was willing to obey God. He had faith to believe in the promise of God, but he also had patience. He waited year after year for God to do what He had promised to do.

When you are battered by life’s storms, when you are in danger of giving up, remember to have faith–believe that God is going to do what He’s promised to do for you. And remember to have patience–refuse to allow your hope to dry up until God has done what He has promised to do.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “God’s Anchor In Life’s Storms” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2018.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.