A Journey Of Faith

"O Lord, I'm on my journey; O Lord, I'm on my journey;

O Lord, I'm on my journey; On my journey home!"

Life is one looong journey from birth to death. Life, for our sake's, is made up of shorter "journeys." Lent is one of those shorter "journeys" that we take each year to deepen our spiritual life and to bring us closer to where God wants us to be. We are not the first to make this "journey"; nor will we be the last. People, like Abraham, can help us along the way; Abraham's journey was a "journey-of-faith"!

Abraham's life-story reads like a modern adventure-story! Abraham's journey begins at the age of 75 years with God's call. God says, "Go! Go from where you are now to a place I will show you!" That took faith! That took trust! Faith to believe that there is one God above all the other gods. Trust to believe that the one true God was calling the likes of you. None of the gods of the Canaanites or Ammorites ever talked to their followers; but this God talks with us -- calls to us to follow Him. It took faith to obey God's call, "Pack up all your things. Leave where you are. I will lead you to the place where I want you to be!" No maps! No GPS! No destination given! Only trust in God's word to lead us on. God says, "Go! Your journey starts here and now -- and I am with you. Trust Me! Abraham did; so, he is known as the Man-of-Faith!

With the call came a promise. God says, "I will make out of you a great nation; your descendents shall number more than all the stars in the sky. How can this be? My wife and I are too old! To which God replies, "I created all the universes. I created suns and moons and stars and placed them in their proper places. I commanded chaos and darkness and they obeyed Me. I have always kept my word. So, trust me on this; it will happen!"

Fifteen years have gone by. Abraham is now 90 years old! Sarai is way past her child-bearing years! Will God keep His promise? We just don't know. So, they take matters into their own hands; and that always spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e! Abraham has a son by the servant-girl, Hagar; his name is Ishmael. Then, Sarai learns that she is pregnant. She becomes jealous of Hagar and Ishmael. Sarai has them taken out into the desert and left there to die. God, however, saves them. And Ishmael becomes the father of the Arab nation.

Sarai does bear a son; and Isaac becomes the father of the Israeli nation. Isaac grows up and when he is eight years old, God again speaks to Abraham, "Take your only son up the mountain; build an altar; and sacrifice Isaac to Me." With tears in his eyes and dread in his heart, Abraham places his son on the altar and raises the knife to kill him, trusting that God will do what is right. God, at the last moment, provides a ram for the sacrifice, saving Isaac's life. And that's why Abraham is known throughout history as the Man-of-Faith!

Abraham was not a good man; he lied and cheated. Abraham was not a perfect man; his faith wavered at times. Abraham was a man who heard God's call, trusted God completely and obeyed God fully!

So, everywhere Abraham traveled on his journey, he built altars honoring the Lord God! The altars reminded people that God is the center of life. The altars were a reminder that God can be trusted completely; that God is never wrong; the altars reminded people that God alone deserves our adoration and praise, our gratitude and thanksgiving, our trust, our devotion and our service!

On our journey through Lent, let Abraham be our example. Let's put God at the center of all our saying and doing. Let's learn to fully trust God in every situation. Let's give God our adoration and praise; our gratitude and thanksgiving, our trust, our devotion and our service. Let us be known for our faith, for our trust in God!