First Grab your Bible and read Hebrews 11:17-19.
Hebrews 11 tells us about many things that certain men and women in the old testament accomplished by faith in their God. Impossible things were performed by them as they trusted in Him. Verses 17-19 relay to us an incident in the life of Abraham. Abraham was a man who was strong in faith (Romans 4:20). He believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness (Galatians 3:6). Notice that it
doesn’t say that he believed in God, although of course he did, but it says he believed God. There is a major difference. Many people believe in God but wonder how many people believe God? That is something to think about.
In the book of Genesis chapter 22, God tries Abraham by telling him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Please remember that Isaac was the son that God had promised to Abraham and Sarah and now Abraham was being told to offer him as a burnt offering. After many years of believing God for this child, it now seemed as if Abraham was going to have to give him up. Abraham, being the man of faith that he was, obeyed God. Of course, in the end God provided a ram for the sacrifice, so that Isaac’s life would be spared. However, that does not negate the fact that Abraham was willing to offer his son. How could Abraham do that? The answer is, by faith!
Our imagination may try to make us envision that Abraham had to struggle with God over this. What I mean is that we may be tempted to think that Abraham wrestled with God over what God was demanding him to do. After all, this was his son, so he would have the right to struggle with this decision. However, the Bible does not give us that impression at all. There seems to be no struggle on Abraham’s part. That doesn’t mean that Abraham did not love his son, because God himself referred to Isaac as “whom thou lovest” (Genesis 22:2). It just means that Abraham had faith in God.
Remember that before Isaac was born, God told Abraham that, “..for in Isaac shall thy seed be called (Genesis 21:12)." It seems that Abraham simply believed God’s word to him regarding Isaac. If God promised that in Isaac Abraham’s seed would be called, then that means that this boy was going to live, one way or another. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11:19, we see what was in Abraham’s mind. That verse reveals to us that Abraham was accounting that if he had to offer Isaac that God would raise him from the dead. Wow!! It seems that Abraham never had a doubt that Isaac was going to live. His faith was in God’s word that in Isaac his seed would be called, so if he did have to offer him then God would raise him up. Now that is faith in God!!!