Imagine the shock Abraham must have felt when God ordered him to sacrifice his son, who was the very fulfillment of what God had promised him. He had waited for a quarter-century for Isaac to be born, and now he was to kill him? To make matters worse, if he obeyed the Lord, he would be putting to death not only his son but also God’s promise. 

Have you ever thought that a promise of God was dead? Maybe you experienced something completely opposite to what the Bible describes and doubted the Lord’s words as a result. Or the door to a ministry you were sure He called you to slammed shut in your face. There are many reasons why it would appear that God’s promises are no longer valid. We live in a fallen world, and Satan is doing everything in his power to make God out to be a liar. 

So why was Abraham able to immediately set out to obey God’s command? If I were him, I would have spent some time arguing with the Lord, and then I would have hemmed and hawed for as long as possible. The author of Hebrews gives us the simple reason: Abraham believed God’s promise. In fact, he believed it so much that he knew that Isaac couldn’t stay dead for long – after all, he had descendants to produce. 

Abraham is described as “embracing” God’s promises. That word means “to receive, to entertain hospitably,” pointing out that he took God at His word. He probably focused much of his thought life on building up his faith and fighting any doubts against it. As a result, the notion that the Lord could raise someone from the dead wasn’t such a crazy idea – nothing would stop God from fulfilling His Word. 

Like Abraham, we often face the choice to believe what we see or God’s Word. Whenever circumstances convince us of the death of one of God’s promises, let’s remember Abraham’s example. He didn’t trust appearances, but instead, he held unswervingly to the Lord’s oath and received his son back alive and well.