Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
Faith is not an adjective but an adverb that plunges into action. The substance of ‘faith’ in our heart is significant only when it is put into application. “Faith is – acting like something is so, even when it is not so, in order that it might be so, simply because God said so”- Dr. Tony Evans. By faith he(Abraham) made his home in the promised land (vs 9a). This great-granddad is honoured as the “Father of Faith” as he demonstrated childlike faith. Abraham followed God without cross-questioning, complaining or contradicting and meticulously obeyed God’s instructions without doubting or disbelieving.
George Muller was the modern day ‘Granddad of Faith’. One morning there was no food for the 300 children in his orphanage. He made the children who were dressed to go to school sit down at the dining table, said grace and waited for God to provide the food. In a few minutes, a baker knocked the door with three batches of freshly baked bread and the milk man supplied the milk from the milk-truck that broke down right in front of the orphanage. Radical faith calls for irrational actions. Saying grace and waiting for God to supply from the bakery of Heaven would have sounded foolish to the people around him but it unlocked the favour of God.
Faith is an action word not an abstract whizz:
1. Convolution: Abraham’s faith remained stable in the midst of the complexity. God commanded Abraham to leave his comfort zone and go into the unknown. Imagine Abraham packing provision, food and clothing for the journey into the “unknown”. He would have given his wife an itinerary with destination “unknown”. He would have certainly faced interrogations about the adventure but in the midst of the obscurity he remained confident. Radical faith is steady in the midst of convolution.
2. Confusion: Abraham was wise to consult God in the middle of confusion. God shared the secret about the impending destruction of the cities where Lot resided as Abraham was a friend of God. Abraham did not coerce God with his divine friendship but negotiated and petitioned for his nephew with confidence on the compassion of the Almighty. Radical faith trusts in the compassion of the Saviour even in the middle of confusion.
3. Contradiction: Abraham trusted God in the centre of the contradiction. The Lord commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac who was born to him at the age of 100 years. Abraham knew that Jehovah did not approve of human sacrifice. Moreover, Isaac was the ‘son of promise’ from whom a great nation was going to be multiplied. Yet, Abraham just put his head down and followed instruction. There was no kicking, crying or complaining. His implicit obedience to the voice of God in embarking this contradicting journey crowned him as the pioneer of Godly radical faith. Radical faith trusts God in the chaos of contradiction.
Hence “faith” is the substance of our “inner confidence” and evidence of our “undisputed compliance” to the command of God even in the midst of convolution, confusion and contradiction.
Romans 4:3 Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, You are too wise to go wrong and far too compassionate to be unkind. Give me the humility and radical faith to obey even when in the middle of the contradicting chaos or confusion. Amen.
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