It is a universal truth that a promise is only as good as the person who is making it. This fundamental fact demonstrates the precious value that trust has in a relationship. It also illuminates the essence of hope. It cannot be denied that when a promise is made, hope arises from that promise. If the one making the promise is known to always honor his vows completely, his word becomes into a catalyst of motivation for he to whom the promise was made. That security found in knowing that there will be no disappointment or trickery once the goal has been met because the promise is true, inevitably becomes a reassuring comfort when the journey becomes bleak. Having the conviction that the prize at the end of the quest will not be denied, makes any grueling sacrifice worth enduring, especially if the victor’s crown is an eternal one. Holy Scriptures promulgate, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22-23, emphasis added). It is irrefutably magnificent to read from the Lord’s sacred pages that He, the Creator, has made a promise to us, His creation. Even more so when we comprehend the manner in which this vow was made by Him. The Hebrew penman explains, “for when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:13-18, emphasis added). Holy Writ consistently proves beyond any shadow of a doubt why Abraham is both friend of God and the father of faith. His heart, unequivocally, was true and full of assurance that Jehovah God would certainly bless him with an heir, despite the challenges this vow confronted. Abraham did not allow his age, Sarah (his wife) being barren, his uncertainty of how this would come to fruition, nor the 25 years he patiently waited for the promise to be fulfilled, plague his heart with doubt. No, what makes this man the personification of faith itself is that “contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore, ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness’” (Romans 4:18-22, emphasis added). The Bible teaches mankind through this extraordinary example of how faith actually works. To begin to understand this majestic lesson, it must be noted that Abraham did make mistakes along the way. He fled to Egypt when famine struck the land without God’s instruction, and put himself at risk due to his wife’s beauty (Genesis 12:10-20). He begot an illegitimate son with his wife’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, surmising (along with Sarah) that perhaps this was how God would fulfill the promise of an heir, creating a problem between Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16:1-4). Yet, despite these setbacks, Holy Writ upholds Abraham as the prime example of having unwavering faith in God. Therefore, the question becomes how does faith work then? The instruction is not in the mistakes that he made, but what he did afterward, when the consequences came to be. Abraham did not allow his stumbles to decimate his conviction in the promise made to him by God. Instead, he learned from them and accepted that the fault was his; he did not blame God. The beauty of Abraham’s contribution to the world is that in him, we are taught how faith must be developed and strengthened. His faith began like every human beings faith begins, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, emphasis added). Remember that Abram (as was his name before God changed it) was called out from his father’s home in Haran by God (Genesis 11:31-12:1). It is in this moment when Abram’s faith originated and he was given a choice to make. He could either reject the divine promise, discarding it as unsure or he could accept it, believing in Him who made the promise. Remember, he had to choose between staying in his father’s land that was already in his possession, or leaving it all behind to venture into unknown territory that was being promised to be given to him. The reality that “by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called out to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” illustrates the level of trust this holy man had in the Lord God’s promise (Hebrews 11:8, emphasis added). This, however, also makes manifest that importance of obedience. Although Abram’s faith becomes apparent immediately when he chooses to listen to God’s offer, he was required to act upon it. For this very reason, James scribes “do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect” (James 2:22, emphasis added)? It is wise to note that it is Abraham’s faith that the inspired scribe is teaching was perfected by his actions. This further proves that Abraham’s faith grew from the decisions that he made, but did not falter whenever his choice was the wrong one. Instead, this inspired lesson focuses on the strength of Abraham’s faith being on God and not on himself. Verily, never did Abraham forget that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6, emphasis added). For this reason, it is imperative that in these latter times we, too, not lose sight of Who has made the promise to us for it is written, “concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32, emphasis added). Thus, like the emblem of faith that is Abraham, let us not focus on the challenges standing in the way of our promise, but instead let our entire focus be on Him, who has made the promise.
