When I was in elementary school, I was a terrible student. My attitude was atrocious and my behavior was unbearable. I never did my homework and I thought the purpose of standardized tests was to see how many cool designs I could make by filling in those little circles on the answer sheet with my No. 2 pencil. If it wasn’t for recess and gym class, I don’t even know if I would have gone to school.

Well, my outlook on education caught up with me in the 5th grade. It was the end of the school year and my grades were so bad that my teacher told me that if I didn’t pass the States and Capitals final exam that I would be held back. Mrs. Ripple even called my parents on this one. For once, I studied hard and aced the final exam. I passed into the 6th grade, and to this day, I can tell you the capital of all 48 states; just kidding, all 50!

As we go through school, teachers give us tests to measure our knowledge and see if we are ready to progress to the next level. Likewise, as we live the Christian life, every once in a while God tests our faith to see if we are ready to progress to the next level of spiritual maturity. God usually tests our faith by allowing some adversity to enter our lives. He wants to see how we will respond. I wonder if anybody here today is experiencing a test of faith!

As we continue to look at the life of Abraham, we can’t help but notice that he experienced three tests of faith. They are found in Genesis 16-22. Let’s see how Abraham scored when God tested his faith!

Abraham Fails the Test of Faith with Hagar (Genesis 16)

When Abraham was 70 years old, God promised him that he would be the father of a great nation. But at 85, Abraham still didn’t have a son. After waiting for 15 years, Abraham and Sarah began to wonder about God’s promise (after all their biological clocks were ticking), and their patience grew thin. God used these years to test their faith.

Unfortunately, they failed the test. They became so desperate for a son that they decided to take matters into their own hands. In Genesis 16:2, Sarah even blames God for not giving her a child. So, she suggested a custom where Abraham would father a son through her maidservant Hagar. This was a common practice in ancient times. Slaves could serve as surrogates to produce an heir that would be entitled to full inheritance.

Abraham should have said, “No, Sarah, we will trust God to keep his promise.” But Abraham went along with Sarah’s plan. As soon as Hagar conceived they began to experience the consequences of their sin. Hagar began to despise Sarah and mistreated her. Sarah went to Abraham and said, “This is all your fault, what are you going to do about this?” Abraham, playing the part of a spineless coward, says, “She’s your maidservant, not mine. You deal with her.” So, Sarah mistreated Hagar and she ran away. Eventually Hagar returned and gave birth to a son and Abraham named him Ishmael. This whole mess started by failing God’s test of faith!

Abraham and Sarah had no idea how many problems their failed test of faith would produce. Their impatience with God’s promise is the primary reason why we still have so much conflict in the Middle East today. 4000 years later, Abraham’s descendants are still fighting over rights to the Promised Land.

More importantly, we find ourselves in this same situation all the time. God has promised to bless us if we do what is right, but we often grow impatient. God asks us to trust him, but we are so tempted to take matters into our own hands.

In one of the early scenes in the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest’s mom, played by actress Sally Field, visits Mr. Hancock, the principal of the Greenbough County Central School. Mrs. Gump wants to enroll her son, but the principal informs her that the state of Alabama requires a minimum IQ of 80. Forrest’s IQ is only 75.

Mrs. Gump insists on enrolling Forrest in that school. She says, “My boy, Forrest, is going to get the same opportunities as everyone else. He’s not going to a special school to learn how to retread tires. We’re talking about five little points. There must be something that can be done.” Forrest’s mom ends up in bed with the principal. Later, the principal tells Forrest, “Your mama sure does care about your education, son.”

This scene reflects the philosophy of our age: “Do whatever it takes! The ends justify the means!” This is the same philosophy Abraham and Sarah followed, and they failed God’s test of faith!

How about you? Will you be patient with God’s plan, or will you take matters into your own hands? Will you cheat the system to get what you want, or will you do the right thing and trust God with the results? When God tests your faith, how will you respond?

Abraham’s Laughter (Genesis 17, 18, & 21)

Abraham failed another test of faith when he was 99 years old. God appeared to him again and reminded him of the covenant he had made 30 years earlier that Sarah was going to bear him a son. What was Abraham’s response? He thought it was funny so he laughed. Why, he and Sarah were thinking about checking into a nursing home, not about what color to paint a nursery! Sarah overheard this, and she too laughed in disbelief.

But, as always, God got the last laugh! Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age. As God had commanded him, Abraham named him Isaac. Guess what the Hebrew name Isaac (Yitzhak) means? It means “laughter.” When Isaac was born, Sarah was laughing again. This time she laughed in joy and wonder, not in disbelief. In Genesis 21:6, she says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

God always has the last laugh in our lives too. There isn’t anything we can do alter his plans. When we sin and fail his tests of faith, he still accomplishes his plans. Even when we are faithless, he is faithful to us!

Abraham’s Greatest Test of Faith (Genesis 22:1-2)

As Isaac grew into a boy, Abraham experienced the greatest test of faith in his life. It was like the 5th grade States and Capitals, the NEECAP, the SAT, ACT, GRE, board and bar exam all together. God tested his faith by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering on Mt. Moriah.

Oh my! God’s instructions shock us. There’s nothing in the story of Abraham that prepares us for God’s stunning command. In fact, this is so disturbing that the narrator prefaces the account by telling us what God is testing Abraham. We know from the Old Testament that God condemns child sacrifice. Some pagan cultures did that, but God detests it. He never really intended for Abraham to take Isaac’s life. He wanted to test Abraham’s faith.

I can only imagine the anguish Abraham felt as he listened to God’s instructions. He must have been crushed! You can feel the tension mount as each phrase in verse 2 gets more specific and narrows the focus. The Hebrew text of verse 2 says, “Take you son…your only son…the one you love…Isaac.” Incredible! Here is the boy for whom Abraham and Sarah waited 30 years. And now God says, “I want you to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.” How devastating! God’s test forced Abraham to decide whom he would worship: God or Isaac?

Thankfully, God doesn’t asked many of us to kill our kids, but he does test our faith in other ways. God may even use one of your children to test your faith. Maybe your son wants to get involved in an all-star hockey league. The problem is that this will force you and your son to miss church for the next three months. You are being forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping your child.

God may test your faith with your finances. You come across a good deal on something you’ve always wanted. Even though you don’t really have the money for it, you justify it as something you need. It just happens to be the monthly amount you give to God as part of your worship. If you took one month’s offering, you could get it. You may not like to admit it, but you are being forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping your possessions.

As we go through life God continues to test our faith by forcing us to choose between worshiping him or worshiping the things he has given us. Every day we have to choose to worship God over our kids, careers, money, possessions, etc. What choice will make? Who will you worship?

Abraham Passes the Test of Faith (Genesis 22:3-14)

The story continues as Abraham woke up early the next morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac along with two of his servants. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. The trip from Beersheba was about 50 miles, roughly a 3 day journey. God must have planned it this way to give Abraham some time to think, some time to change his mind.

But on the third day he looked up and saw Mt. Moriah in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Did you catch the statement Abraham made to his servant “We will worship and then we will come back to you?” What an amazing statement! Apparently, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead, because Isaac was the promised heir.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. Then Isaac asked the dreaded question “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Do you see the tears welling up in Abraham’s eyes as he said “God himself will provide the lamb, my son.”

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But just before Abraham pressed the metal blade into his sons’ flesh an angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

God interrupted the sacrifice and said “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Then Abraham looked up and in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place “The Lord Will Provide.”

God intervened! He provided a substitute! Abraham passed his test of faith. Now God knew that he wouldn’t hold anything back, not even the most important person in his life. Abraham feared God rather than fearing the consequences of sacrificing his child.

It can be difficult to trust God, especially when we don’t understand his plan. Our culture tells us to put ourselves first. I have heard people say things like, “If I don’t look out for myself, nobody else will.” But where is the faith in that?

Our culture also tells us to put our kids first no matter what. I have heard parents say, “I want to give my kids the things I never had.” The reality is our kids don’t need most of the things we didn’t have. The most important thing you can do for your kids is not to worship them. The greatest thing you can do for your children is to worship their Creator.

If God asked you to sacrifice one of your kids, would you do it? If God asked you to give up the things that bring you comfort and security, how would you respond? God constantly tests our faith to see who we love more!

Abraham’s Payoff (15-19)

Perhaps, as you listen to this story, you are wondering if there is a payoff for putting God first. Maybe you are wondering if the sacrifice is really worth it. Does passing God’s test of faith make any difference?

Look at the conclusion to this story! God blessed Abraham with an astronomical amount of descendants. Through his son Isaac, God made Abraham’s descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky and sand on the seashore. This was one of the greatest blessings a person could have in Abraham’s day!

What’s the payoff for worshiping God above all things? Blessing! Passing our tests of faith always leads to blessing! Do you trust God to bless you?

As I conclude, go back to verse 8 for a moment. Remember Abraham’s answer to the gut-wrenching question that Isaac asked? Dad, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, “God himself will provide.” Literally, “God himself will see to it.” After the fact, in verse 14, Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide.” And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

In the larger story of the Bible, Genesis 22 foreshadows the provision of another sacrifice. 2000 years after this, there was another son who ascended Mt. Moriah. By this time it was called Mount Calvary. This son carried the wood on his back too; wood that would be used for a sacrifice. The same God who provided a sacrificial lamb so that Abraham’s son might live provided the ultimate sacrificial lamb, his own son Jesus Christ, so that we might live.

The same God who provided his one and only son Jesus Christ to be sacrificed on a wooden cross may test your faith. He wants to know if you really trust him. When God tests your faith, I hope you pass!