Lessons of Faith from Abraham and Sarah

This week as I have studied the life of Abraham, I am impressed with his faith. His is the faith that can move mountains… and Sarah is not far behind. The experiences they both had involving Isaac demonstrate the amount of faith they both had in the Savior and in God’s ability to do anything.

Check out these examples of faith:

• When they are without children, God promises descendants that can’t be numbered (Genesis 12:2, 13:16).
• Seeing that they don’t have children and that a servant will inherit their possession, they question God. God again promises posterity. They believe. In a great act of faith Sarah gives her servant to Abraham to have a child (Genesis 15:2-6).
• After Abraham has a child with Hagar, the servant, God promises to bless Ishmael and promises Sarah she will have a child of her own. They believe. (Genesis 178:15-21).
• God sends three visitors to repeat the promise. Abraham and Sarah are now old. God asked, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” They believe (Genesis 18:9-14).
• When Isaac is born, both Abraham and Sarah rejoice. They believe (Genesis 21:1-7)
• God commends Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. They say their goodbyes. They travel. Their faith is tested beyond imagination. They believe (Genesis 22:1-19.)

This last test of faith gave me much to ponder. This is more than a story of obedience. This is a story of FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.

Every aspect of the Abrahamic covenant is focused on his posterity. God promises to make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2-3). God gives Abraham land for his posterity to have a place to live (Genesis 12:7;13:14-17). God promises that Abraham’s posterity would inherit the covenant.(Genesis 17:5-7).

Abraham, and I’m including Sarah, seems to focus, not on what they had lost, but in the future – even for beyond this mortal life and to the success of their children. This is a HUGE example of faith, especially considering they didn’t have children for quite some time.

Moroni taught that “faith is things which are hoped for and not seen.”  Perhaps Sarah “laughed at the prospect of having a child in her old age because of the faith and the hope she had in the promises given to their family. Together, Abraham and Sarah’s faith was active when they believed in the promise that had not come to a reality. This reality brought them great joy. Moroni also said, “Dispute not because ye see not.” Faith lives in the space of not knowing. It lives in the space between promises and fulfillment. When the blessing comes, faith is no longer required. Perhaps that is why we must “wait upon the Lord” and why God withholds blessings until “after the trial of [our] faith” (Ether 12”6).

Family seems to be the point of the Abrahamic covenant. Promised posterity. Promised “land” or dealing place. Promised unity in the power of the Priesthood of God. Promised responsibility.

Jesus said, “I will try the faith of my people” (3Nephi 26:11) James indicated that God tries our faith to help us to grow.  “The trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:3). My experience in families is that a family is the source of great frustration, worry and sorrow, and with the exercise of faith the greatest JOY imaginable. Learning to work together, play together, learn together, worship together, and BE together is a lifetime of lessons that I am very grateful for. From my roles as daughter, sister, mother, and wife in a family I have truly found myself. I can think of countless blessings that have been deferred that have given me space to stretch and to develop into a better, more Christ-like person. I develop my faith as I experience things that require faith.

So today, I will remember that faith, hope and encouragement are forward-looking. Today, I will put family first. I will recognize that family members can be the beneficiaries of my relationship with God and that the blessings they receive will increase my joy. Today I will look forward with a steadfastness in Christ in the spirit of faith and I will put down my fear.