Trust In Action

“Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” – Galatians 3: 6-9

Aside from Moses, no Old Testament character is mentioned more in the New Testament than Abraham. Abraham is mentioned in 230 verses in the Old and New Testament.

There is much we can learn by observing Abraham’s life through the scriptures. The apostle Paul in Romans chapter 4 refers to Abraham six times as the father of faith. Though he lived in a world at enmity with God, Abraham models a life lived to those who chose to walk by faith in God.

When told to go, he went. When promised, he believed. When commanded, he obeyed—even when it seemed to make no sense at all. Abraham’s faith wasn’t because of his intellect, his accomplishments, or pedigree, or even his wealth. Exercising that was not easy. Abraham “hoped against hope” at times, in other words he believed God, in spite of their being little or no hope. Abraham was “a friend of God “ (James 2:23) because of his faith. The object of Abraham’s faith was God himself. Abraham believed in and trusted God completely.

Fast forward 2,000 years. Trust can still seem like hoping against hope. Trust is rarely a suggestion. When someone says “trust me”, it is usually implied that you throw one’s self into a situation and believe wholeheartedly that the situation will come to pass as they promise. For in the times of trouble; in the out-of-my-control circumstances and in the I-don’t-get-it days, we will look to something or someone to trust.

Proverbs 3: 5 gives us a direction for trust: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Trust is action, an active throwing of yourself into the hands of God as Abraham did, and saying I believe in Your grace and accept Your plan.

Why should we trust God completely? Because He is trustworthy. He is worthy of trust because trust requires a track record. You wouldn’t trust someone at their word if they had lied to you consistently in the past. But God’s track record is perfect. This does not mean it is perfectly understood, but it means His love, power, grace and compassion is promised clearly in scripture and can be experienced plainly in our lives.

God used Abraham to play a pivotal role in the outworking of the story of redemption, culminating in the birth of Jesus. Abraham is a living example of faith and hope in the promises of God (Hebrews 11:10). Our lives should be so lived that when we reach the end of our days, our faith and our trust in God, like Abraham’s, will remain as an enduring legacy to others.

Discussion Questions:

1. How is trust and delight related.
2. What prevents us from taking delight in God’s promises and plans? What areas of your life do you not fully trust God?
3. If there are areas of your life where God is not “coming through” the way you would like, how can you learn to trust God in those situations?
4. What can you do this week to realign your actions to reflect trust in God?
5. Think of someone in your life that you see as an example for trusting God – what do they do really well that you can learn from?