The Test of Faith Proves You Fit for Your Next Level in Destiny

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.  Genesis 22:1-8, English Standard Version

If Abraham is going to be the carrier of God’s blessing in the earth, then Abraham must be proven fit for that high calling. So God tests him. His test shows that he is a person who has truly believed God because when called upon to sacrifice his most cherished object in the whole universe, he does not seem to protest against God even when what God is asking of him doesn’t seem to make sense. How can God, who promised that Isaac would be the heir of Abraham’s promises, require that Isaac be sacrificed? Abraham had an unquestioning faith in God so that he still believed that somehow God would still be able to fulfil his promises to him. Every step Abraham took to Mount Moriah, where he was to sacrifice Isaac, must have solidified his faith in the goodness of God.

As you go through your crucible today and can’t seem to understand why all these evil things are happening to you or why God would allow you to go through such hardship, remember that it may be your test. So just believe in the goodness of God and the promises He has made to you about your destiny. You shall not fail! You shall excel! And you shall be proven fit for the next level! Amen!

Intimacy with God Births a Breakthrough in Prayer

²² So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶ And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹ He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³² Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³ And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. – Genesis 18:22-33, English Standard Version

God’s promotion in Kingdom authority comes with it a Kingdom responsibility. So now Abraham is privy to what God is about to do in Sodom as God’s “confidante”. That status carries with it the responsibility to intercede for Sodom, especially for the righteous resident in it. Hence God’s revelation comes about so that we can do something redemptive about that situation. This saga reminds us that God wants to be approached in prayer, that God is the Judge to whom all the earth must give account, and that God is just and merciful; it also reminds us that we be bold to approach the willing God who has chosen to work with us in bringing about His purposes in the earth, that we should have a passion for those that are lost, that we should be humble in prayer before God, and that we should not weary in intercession.

May you have a passion for those you know that are still in the Sodom of sin and need God’s rescuing! May you boldly intercede for them to come to a saving knowledge of Christ! May you persistently cry out to God for the salvation!

Intimacy With God Brings Promotion in God

⁶ Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷ The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸ seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, ²¹ I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” – Genesis 18:6-21, English Standard Version

Such was Abraham’s encounter with God that God promoted him in Kingdom authority by revealing to Abraham what He was about to do. Abraham had proved himself obedient by staying in the promised land even when he didn’t hear God’s voice for 14 years. Here was a man that God could reveal what He was about to do in the earth. It was essentially because of Abraham’s destiny – “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” – that God “confided” in Abraham. In other words, God had chosen that He would do things in the earth through His covenant person who had proved himself as one totally committed to God’s covenant purposes in the earth. Hence God shared His purposes with the man through whom God’s purposes would unfold. In effect, Abraham had been promoted to a greater Kingdom responsibility and authority.

May God find you trustworthy! May you be responsible in your Kingdom assignment wherever your sphere of influence is! May God reveal the mysteries going on around you so you may wage the good war for His Kingdom!