Faith and Trust

During my recent Bible study, I was studying about our forefather, the "Father of Faith, " Abraham. Upon studying in depth, I discovered a connection between obedience and faith. I concluded that 'To have faith in someone, you have to be obedient to him. To obey him, you have to be in a relationship with him. To have a relationship with him, you have to know him.'

To make it easy, you have to meet someone to get to know them, then form a relationship, move further to listen to and accept their advice or suggestions, and then that trust leads to blind faith. For example, we take a boy named Mike. He is a good kid, obedient to his parents, plays basketball, and excels in his studies. He completed high school and entered college. There he meets new people. He meets a boy, a teacher and a basketball coach. Now, after meeting them, he enters into a relationship with them. The relation of friendship with the boy, the relation of a tutor and student with his teacher and the relation between the coach and player as his basketball mentor. This relationship leads him to be obedient to his friend, teacher, and coach. To obey means he takes advice from his friend about his clothing. He takes advice from his teacher on the house to improve his grades and advice from his coach about how to improve his game. When Mike obeys them, it increases his trust in them, which further leads to his faith in them. This leads to Mike having blind faith in their suggestions because of his trust. This is why Abram had blind trust in God which we can see in his actions.

In ‭Genesis 11:31-32 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Here some Bible scholars interpret that it was Abram whom God had called. But Abram, being a good son, told his father, and the father, who’s the head of the family, decided that the family should all go together. Again, we read ‭Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

There are 2 points that I have heard somewhere and also my thoughts.

• God had called Abram to go to Canaan but he settled in Harran. Here, we see that Abram knows God; hence, he decided to go to Canaan, but his father, took the leadership, and Abram instead of going to Canaan the household settled in Harran.

• God tells him to leave his father’s household but he brings Lot along with him. Here, we can see Abram is now in a deeper relationship; hence, he decides to go to Canaan with his nephew.

During this time we understand Abram knows God and is growing in relationship but lacks in obedience. We read in ‭Genesis 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. Here we see that instead of trusting in God to go to Canaan Abram goes to Egypt. Here we see Abram’s lack of trust. Because faith is a belief system; trust is action. Abram believes but lacks action.

Now, see the relationship between Abram and God, and his trust increased. We read about lot being taken captive, Abram asking God for help and God promising him victory. So he takes some of his men for battle and rescues Lot. 

Genesis 17:1-2,5 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 

No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Here we see God changed the name of Abram to Abraham.

Names are important because they shape our identity. We bear the name given to us from the womb to the tomb. 

God changed Abram’s name to Abraham in Genesis 17 to signify a new covenant, changing his identity from "exalted father" to "father of a multitude of nations". This renaming, which included adding a "hey" (representing God's breath/spirit) to his name, marked the promise of countless descendants and established him as the patriarch of nations, not just one family. 

Key reasons for the name change include:

Significance of the Promise: God updated the name to reflect the expansion of the covenant, moving from a promise of a great nation (Abram) to being the father of many nations (Abraham).

Symbol of Covenant/Ownership: The change highlighted a new, deeper relationship where God, often represented by the letter 'Hey' (ה) in Hebrew, was now part of his name (Abram 

 Abraham).

A "Done Deal": God used the perfect tense, saying "I have made you a father," signifying that the promise was already secured in His sight.

Identity Shift: The new name signified a new mission, character, or calling for Abraham.

Here on God after the covenant fulfills his promise and gives Abraham an heir a son which we read in Genesis 21:2-3  And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.

Abraham didn't have descendents and now he had one so God gave him everything he had promised. There's an old saying A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. Similarly, you read in Proverbs 17:3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the Lord tries hearts.

After Abraham received all the graces, God tested Abraham to see if he was faithful or if his priority changed which we read in Genesis 22:1-2 After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only-begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” We know the outcome of the test which we read in Genesis 22:12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only-begotten son, from me.” Genesis 22:16-18 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only-begotten son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Here I got a conclusion that Abraham had faith that God was all-powerful and good and he kept his promises but Abraham trusted God would keep his promises no matter what. Even if he sacrifices his son God is powerful to raise him back from the dead. 

Faith is defined as “the substance of things hoped for". Trust is defined as"the evidence of things not seen”. Or in other words, Faith recognizes that a chair is designed to support the person who sits on it, and trust demonstrates the faith by actually sitting in the chair.

Let us move forward in our lives as Abraham did in faith trusting God.

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