Unfinished Faith: Relearning God.

Week 20:

The bit where I introduce: 

Quite a few weeks back, I referenced at times we quote bible verses to bring comfort to others when they are struggling. This week’s verses aren’t one of those.

The verses we focus on this week are harsh, in the context of what is written it’s quite confronting.  Some passages in the bible do not comfort us straight away, they unsettle us first. Did God really say that? Verses we want to soften to fit our image of a loving God.

Have you ever had a situation in your life where God has asked the unthinkable of you? This week’s verses demonstrate some texts don’t invite easy answers.

The bit where I refer to the bible: and ask a few rhetorical questions:

(One of the most confronting moments in the bible in a few verses but read the whole chapter.)

Genesis: 22:1-2

Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Abraham had waited so long for his son, decades in fact. He had formed a relationship with him, laughed, loved and understood he would carry the promise and hope of generations to come just by existing. Then God does the ultimate blindside and says this: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love…”  And kill him.

This is as I read the text, intentional phrasing. God is naming the bond, the affection, the sacrifice. It’s a test of faith: “Abraham, do you trust Me?” Remember, he’s stumbled before hiding behind lies about Sarah to save himself, and taking Hagar, his wife’s servant, into his bed because he doubted God’s promise, He is motivated by fear for his own life but he likely believed the lie would also protect Sarah in some way.

If you interpret this story through a literal lens: It highlights Abraham’s radical trust in God. Abraham obeyed without hesitation, demonstrating that his devotion to God superseded his love for his own child, the very child God had miraculously promised him.

Non-literal approaches suggest that God did not actually want Isaac killed, but rather used the intense situation to teach Abraham and humanity a profound spiritual lesson. Some commentary suggests ” God’s command was an allegorical “test” meant to expose Abraham’s misunderstanding. Abraham mistakenly assumed he was supposed to literally kill the boy, whereas God merely meant to “offer” or dedicate him to a higher purpose.”

I, really do wrestle with the nature of the God I choose to believe in and the very nature of my faith when I read this story. Why?

 It exposes not a polished or sentimental “nice” faith, but a faith that costs me. If that’s you, like Abraham, you might question God’s character. You know who He says He is, yet your life seems to testify otherwise. The ultimate question we ask is” Will God really come through for me?”

Remember, Abraham doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight like we do. He walks in obedience while simultaneously carrying confusion, grief, and trust. And it’s important to note that this story, indeed, these verses, are not about a God who desires child sacrifice. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly condemns such practices. Nor are these verses meant to make us feel comfortable; they confront any shallow or sentimental version of faith.

What this story does reveal is something far deeper and more layered. In the dying moments (pardon the pun) God stops Abraham’s hand and provides a ram instead.

Provision + surrender = obedience.

Perhaps God is exposing where Abraham’s ultimate trust rests, while at the same time foreshadowing His own sacrifice to come. The story prophetically points forward to the moment, centuries later, when God Himself would become like Abraham the Father, carrying the sacrifice. Except this time, nothing would stop the process.

What takes my breath away literally is that on the cross, God could not ask humanity to provide the lamb; He would provide it Himself through Jesus. Here we encounter the complex nature of God: holy yet compassionate, testing yet providing, mysterious yet trustworthy beyond all human understanding.

But on reflection, one of the hardest spiritual truths I’ve discovered is this: faith is not always clarity. Sometimes faith is simply facing the mountain with unanswered questions. Abraham does not walk up that mountain with explanations; he walks up with silence, tension, and unresolved trust. Our mountains may look different, but they can reveal the same things we cling to so tightly.

Identity. Control. The future we had planned. Relationships. Security.

This story highlights to me how often we want a God who is entirely explainable, a God small enough to fit within human logic, a God who never disturbs us. But the God revealed in the bible is not manageable, nor is He cruel. He is, however, consistent.

God isn’t demonstrating His cruelty stripping Abraham (or us) of our heart’s desires, He is wanting to show us that with deep surrender He alone is enough. This doesn’t mean every hardship is a divine test, but this story invites us to ask whether we trust God only when His ways make sense to us. That is a much harder question.

The bit where you get to think about stuff: Questions for the week.

What do I do when God’s ways feel beyond my understanding or emotionally difficult to reconcile?

Have I ever discovered deeper trust in God through a season that was painful, confusing or unfair?

In what areas of my life might God be inviting me from comfort and control to surrender and dependence?