Faith wanes the fastest in crisis. The times when we are forced to rely on God for the things we love or care about most are the times when we sometimes realize how shallow our own faith is. Many of us have buried children, or nearly done so—I could never imagine the pain involved with that. Times like those test our faith the hardest. Do we really trust that God is good, even in the hardest times? When Abraham’s faith was tested, his action shouted a resounding yes.
Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a fascinating book on this story called Fear and Trembling, in which he discussed how insane faith really is. Faith made a holy act out of murder; faith made Abraham happily resign himself to something unhappy. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, Abraham couldn’t understand how that could possibly be for the best. But by faith, he made the incredible decision to trust God anyway. He trusted that God was still good. He was willing to do what seemed insane because he knew that somehow, some incomprehensible way, God would provide.
And provide he did! God provided a spotless lamb to take Isaac’s place on the altar so Isaac could have life. Sound familiar? That’s because God has been offering us the same message of grace since the beginning. He provides. He provided a lamb for Abraham, and he provided Jesus the lamb of God for us so that we may have eternal life in his name. Even in our greatest distress, he provides all that we need.
With this knowledge, we are free to boldly do the insane—we are free to hold fast to faith in God’s provision, even when all hope seems lost! Even in the most uncertain or painful times that all of us know all too well, in the times when relying on God feels the most fruitless, we can boldly rest with unshakable faith in our God’s goodness and undying love for us, because our God steadfastly provides. As Kierkegaard says, “faith is the highest passion in a man.” So keep insane faith, and obey God fearlessly. Because he always provides every good thing we need.
