"The Lord appeared to (Abram) and said, 'I am God Almighty; serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you'" (Genesis 17:1-2)
In Abraham's life we see not only how God asks for faith but how He develops faith by the gracious training that He gives. When God first called Abraham, He gave the great promise, "All the families of the earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3). When he reached the land, God promised that the land would be his. Before the birth of Isaac, in the words of our text, God sought to strengthen Abraham's faith. Step by step, God led him until his faith was perfected for full obedience in the sacrifice of Isaac. From the very beginning, Abraham obeyed God and believed His promises, even when his circumstances seemed to be in conflict with those promises.
God makes great demands on our faith as well. If we are to follow in Abraham's footsteps, we too are to live in the land of spiritual promise with nothing but His word to depend on. Bow in prayer before God until He speaks to you too: "I am God Almighty, serve me faithfully and live a blameless life." When Abraham heard this, he fell on his face and God talked with him. There you have the secret birthplace of the power to trust God for everything that he promises.
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