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Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Don’t you love it when things all fit together…when things all fall into place…when things just couldn’t work out better? Tell me, isn’t life good when the thousandth piece of the thousand-piece Christmas puzzle is inserted snuggly in place? Tell me there is not a little smug satisfaction when you show up at your favorite restaurant five minutes before the crowds and don’t have to wait outside with that blinking buzzer thing? Don’t you love the exhilaration of a fist-pump and a loud “Yes!” when you get the e-mail that the company conference will be in the beautiful vacation paradise of Oklahoma City? What?

But here’s the thing…the things that makeup faith never fit all together. In fact, sometimes they don’t fit at all. In our passage today, Abraham’s test and his faithful response were made up of two contradictory truths. Truth #1: Isaac was the son of promise that God had planned the future around. Truth #2: God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham had to move forward with these two truths and could only conclude that if he did have to go through with the unthinkable, God would raise Isaac back from the dead.

Faith is made up of things that don’t always fit together. If it’s all packaged up nice and tight…it’s not faith…it’s a fact. But there is a problem for those who must have everything fitting nicely together with fact. As believers, we live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). In fact, “without faith, it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb 11:6). “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb 11:1 NIV). So…how do you respond when everything doesn’t fit altogether?

Father, I like things to fit together…but when they don’t, give me the strength and courage to move out with faith. In Christ’s name and for his sake. Amen.

This Week on The Journey:

1 and 2 Samuel