Abraham's Faith Secrets

Hebrews 11 declares that Abraham was one of the heroes of faith. But, before we get into his secrets, let's define 'faith' from a God point of view. The word 'faith' is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament. The basic Hebrew word used there is interpreted as 'trusting.' That's a pretty good way to define faith-------a trusting in God. The Greek word in the New Testament is defined as being 'the conviction of the truth of anything.' Therefore, when we talk about having faith in God and His Word, we are saying that we have a conviction that what God declares about something is the truth, no matter what it looks like right now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know---for you it's been real easy to have faith. So, please pray for me because I struggle with it at times. (You may take a few minutes to laugh at my little joke and then we'll get back at the lesson.)
God realized that believing Him instead of what we saw, or the conditions around us, would be a little difficult. So, He gave Abraham some daily exercises to help him build and increase his faith with.
One of them we find in Geneses 13. Abraham's and Lot's herdsmen had been fighting about grazing rights and the two of them were on the top of a mountain. Abraham gave Lot his choice of land. Lot chose the beautiful grazing lands of the plain and left Abraham the second best spot. Ain't kin folks just lovely. However, when Lot started scurrying down the mountain to claim his property, God came to Abraham and started talking. One thing God did not do, please pay attention. He did not jump down Abraham's throat and nag at him, "I told you not to bring Lot. I told you so. I told you so." Boy, God could take some real good lessons from som of us, huh? Some of us humans really know how to push the envelope, don't we. Now, don't get scared, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands and give a 30 minute altar call. We're on a faith building lesson. The first church God gave us to minister in is our family. Our job as partners and parents is to build faith in God and faith in each other. 'Nuff said about that subject. Let's go on.
In Genesis 13:14, God starts giving to Abraham his first faith lesson. 14-lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15-For the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, Then in verse 17 He says, Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. God built humans to learn from our five senses. We learn about things by our sight, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling. He was telling Abraham to walk through His promise to him. Walk through all of the land you can see using all of your senses in enjoying it. Every place that Abraham could walk to, see, smell, taste, hear and feel was going to be his. Every hill, every valley, every stream, every flower, every tall tree, every bit of the green grass, every fruit tree and in essence, every thing was going to be his and his seed's.
Also, in verse 16 God told Abraham his seed would be as numerous as the dust. In Genesis 15:5, He said Abraham's seed would be as numerous as the stars. In Genesis 22:17, He said his seed would be as numerous as the sand upon the sea shore.
What was God doing in giving Abraham all of these things to look at? He was helping Abraham to grasp the enormity of His promise. He was giving Abraham a vision of what was coming in the future instead of seeing how things were right not. Everywhere Abraham went was his. Every time he looked out of his tent or looked anywhere, he saw grains of sand, seashore or dust. It reminded him of God's promise. At night, when he could not see the dust and grains of sand, he saw the stars. Every thing around Abraham reminded him of God's promise. When situations looked like they were getting out of control, a look at the sand or a look at the stars brought Abraham's faith back into line with God's promise.
Here is one of the most important lessons in life with God. Circumstances will very seldom look like God's Word is coming to pass. That's why He they call them 'miracles.' God wants to give us those things that we cannot obtain by our own ability. That's why 2 Peter 2:4 calls them exceeding great and precious promises. He wants us to focus our lives on His Word instead of what we see at the moment. Don't let what's happening in your life discourage you into feeling like, 'Well, it's always been this way and probably always will.' Write the promises of God down on paper or 3 x 5 index cards and go over them again and again and again until they are memorized.
Remember, Abraham accepted the way things were in his life, but He believed that God was going to change things until they lined up with His word. God taught Him to meditate more on what was going to happen because of His Word rather than on what was happening right now that didn't look like it.
Keep praising Him.